An agreed case is a procedure that can be used in rare situations in which the parties to a lawsuit agree on the facts and disagree on the relevant law as applied to the facts. In such a case the parties stipulate to the facts, file a narrative statement of the agreed facts, and submit the case to the court for a ruling.
If a case submitted on an agreed statement of facts is appealed, the narrative statement of facts stipulated to by the parties is filed with the appellate court (often the court of appeals) rather than the trial court record (a transcript of the trial that includes witness testimony and documents admitted in evidence).
In Arkansas, an agreed case, also known as a case submitted on an agreed statement of facts, is a legal procedure where the disputing parties concur on the factual aspects of the case but seek a judicial determination on the application of the law to those facts. This process allows the parties to bypass the need for a trial to establish the facts, thereby streamlining the legal proceedings. The parties prepare a narrative statement detailing the facts they have agreed upon and submit this to the court. The court's role is then to apply the law to these facts and make a ruling. Should the case be appealed, the agreed statement of facts is sent directly to the appellate court, such as the Arkansas Court of Appeals. This differs from the usual appellate process where the trial court record, including a transcript of the trial proceedings, is reviewed by the appellate court. The use of an agreed case is typically limited to situations where the legal issues are clear-cut and the facts are undisputed, making it a relatively rare occurrence in litigation.