A consent judgment is a judgment that is reached after all of the parties in a civil court case come to an agreement about how to proceed. Once the parties come to an agreement, a judge hands down the consent judgment to finalize litigation. The court’s decision is final and means that the case cannot be contested in the future, unless it is proven that the consent judgment was handed down fraudulently. The judgment binds both parties and each must do as the judgment says. If one party fails to act on their part of the agreement, they can be taken back to court for not following the judge’s ruling. Consent judgment is often used to stop litigation and to save on court costs. The judgement will be handed down in a consent decree that clearly states the terms of the agreement and what is expected of each party. A consent judgment becomes public record although some do have confidentiality clauses. The confidentiality causes are used to protect the payer from being sought by other people to pay the same damages.
