Wright v. Ethical Culture Fieldston School
- James Oetken
- 1:23-cv-01874
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Wright v. Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Judge Oetken denied settlement enforcement and denied the Cochran Firm’s charging-lien motion without prejudice.
Serene R. Wright and Josephine DeJesus, whose claims remain pending; Ethical Culture Fieldston School and certain employees, whose settlement-enforcement motion was denied; and Attorney Derek Sells and The Cochran Firm, whose charging-lien motion was denied without prejudice.
What happened
In Wright v. Ethical Culture Fieldston School, the defendants asked the court to enforce an alleged June 16, 2022 settlement between the plaintiffs and Ethical Culture Fieldston School. The Cochran Firm and Attorney Derek Sells separately asked the court to enforce a charging lien against the plaintiffs.
The court agreed with Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave that the parties had not reached an enforceable settlement while the Cochran Firm represented the plaintiffs. Because there was no enforceable settlement before the plaintiffs discharged the firm, the plaintiffs’ claims remain pending and the case must continue.
Judge Oetken adopted Judge Cave’s recommendation in full. The court denied the defendants’ motion to enforce the settlement and denied the Cochran Firm’s motion to enforce its charging lien without prejudice.
The detailed version
- Wright v. Ethical Culture Fieldston School · No. 1:23-cv-01874
- James Oetken
- Aug. 1, 2025
Background
Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave issued a Report and Recommendation addressing two motions. Ethical Culture Fieldston School and certain employees asked the court to enforce a settlement they contended Serene Wright and Josephine DeJesus had agreed to on June 16, 2022. Attorney Derek Sells and The Cochran Firm asked the court to enforce a charging lien against the plaintiffs.
Judge Cave recommended denying the settlement motion because no enforceable settlement had been reached while The Cochran Firm represented the plaintiffs. She also recommended denying the charging-lien motion without prejudice because the plaintiffs’ claims remained pending. The district court reviewed the recommendation independently.
Settlement Enforceability
The court applied the four-factor test used under New York law to determine whether parties intended to be bound by an undocumented agreement:
- Whether the parties expressly reserved the right not to be bound without a written agreement;
- Whether either side partially performed the alleged agreement;
- Whether the parties agreed to all of the alleged agreement’s terms; and
- Whether the type of agreement ordinarily is put in writing.
The party seeking to enforce a contract bears the burden of proving that a binding contract existed by a greater-than-50-percent standard. The court agreed with Judge Cave’s analysis and concluded that the plaintiffs and Ethical Culture Fieldston School had not reached an enforceable settlement before the plaintiffs discharged The Cochran Firm. The court therefore left the plaintiffs’ claims pending, meaning the litigation must continue.
Charging-Lien Motion
The Cochran Firm and the plaintiffs objected to Judge Cave’s calculation concerning the firm’s fees under quantum meruit, a method of determining the reasonable value of services. The court did not resolve that calculation because it agreed that no enforceable settlement had been reached. It stated that courts ordinarily defer deciding the fees and expenses owed to a withdrawing attorney until the main case is resolved, to avoid introducing side issues into the litigation.
Disposition
Judge Oetken adopted Judge Cave’s Report and Recommendation in full. The court denied the defendants’ motion to enforce the settlement agreement. It denied The Cochran Firm’s motion to enforce its charging lien without prejudice. The Clerk of Court was directed to close both motions.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.