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 Vermont, an agreed case, also known as a case stated or stipulated facts case, is a legal procedure where both parties in a lawsuit concur on the underlying facts 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 and instead present a narrative statement of the agreed facts directly to the court. The court's role is then to apply the law to these facts and make a ruling. If either party decides to appeal the decision, the narrative statement of agreed facts is submitted to the appellate court. This replaces the need for a full trial record, as there was no trial to transcribe. The appellate court reviews the case based on the stipulated facts and the legal issues presented. This procedure is not commonly used but can be an efficient way to resolve legal disputes where the only contention is the interpretation or application of the law.