Brannam v. Reedy - Commonwealth Court - August 14, 2006
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/out/2590CD05_8-14-06.pdf
A dispute about the existence or binding effect of a settlement agreement must be resolved by conducting an evidentiary hearing on the points in dispute. This is the case even where there is a written agreement signed by counsel, if it is alleged that counsel lacked authority to act. It was error for the lower court to have found "facts" based on the judge's personal experience rather than on the testimony of witnesses at a hearing, even where the judge claims "intimate knowlege" of the facts as a result of a prehearing conference.
