An e-mail agreement to settle a lawsuit did not imply an agreement to sign a release; it only implied dropping this particular lawsuit and the claims made in it, the Fairfax Circuit Court ruled in Cully v. Smith (7/9/19). The key words of the e-mail exchange were “Our last and final offer is $610,000.00” and “Cully accepted your below offer of $610,000.00 in full and final settlement of this case.” But the defendant then refused to pay until the plaintiff signed a release “from any liability in relation to any claims arising from the accident.” The Defendant argued that the acceptance implied “the customary … payment … upon the exchange of an endorsed release and dismissal order.” But the judge said “the term ‘settlement’ as used in this exchange is unambiguous, and means ‘dismissal of this lawsuit.’ … No reasonable person would have attributed execution of a release to the term ‘settlement.’” “This Court looks only ‘to the outward expression of a person as manifesting his intention’ before the contract was made ‘rather than to his secret and unexpressed intention.’” “Any evidence of custom and usage in the area of tort litigation settlement agreements does not and cannot displace the objective manifestations of the parties forming the mutual assent underlying this specific settlement agreement.”