- Mary Carter agreement
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Mary Car·ter agreement /'mer-ē-'kär-tər-/ n [from Booth v. Mary Carter Paint Co., 202 So. 2d 8 (1967), Florida appeals court case that popularized the agreement]: a secret agreement between a plaintiff and one or more but not all codefendants which limits the liability of the defendants by giving them an interest in the recovery awarded to the plaintiff◇ In a Mary Carter agreement, the participating defendants agree to remain as parties to the lawsuit and guarantee payment to the plaintiff of a settled amount if no recovery is awarded against the other defendants. The plaintiff agrees to offset their liability by, or sometimes even to pay them from, a recovery awarded from the other defendants. Some states allow the admission of Mary Carter agreements into evidence. In other states they are illegal.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.
- Mary Carter agreement
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n. A device for settling cases that involves multiple defendants, with one or more defendants paying money to plaintiff in exchange for a release from further liability, but with an ongoing role to participate in the trial of the case, a portion of any monies received by the plaintiff from other defendant(s) is paid to the settling defendant(s).
Webster's New World Law Dictionary. Susan Ellis Wild. 2000.
