A. A rule that prohibits evidence of a verbal agreement in order to modify a written contract.
Listen to pronunciation Legal Definition -
(pə-rohl or par-əl)
Parol evidence - Evidence of oral statements. Black's Law Dictionary® Eighth Edition © 2004
Parol-evidence rule. Contracts - The common law principle that a writing intended by the parties to be a final embodiment of their agreement cannot be modified by evidence of earlier or contemporaneous agreements that might add to, vary, or contradict the writing. -This rule usually operates to prevent a party from introducing extrinsic evidence of negotiations that occurred before or while the agreement was being reduced to its final written form. Black's Law Dictionary® Eighth Edition © 2004
Recent Usage -
"A suit by Russian tennis pro Anastasia Myskina alleging the unauthorized dissemination of semi-nude photos by Gentleman's Quarterly magazine has been dismissed by a federal judge. Myskina, the winner of the 2004 French Open and currently the 10th ranked player in the world, had agreed to pose as Lady Godiva in a photo shoot for the October 2002 issue of GQ. She sued after photos from the Lady Godiva shoot appeared in the Russian magazine Medved along with a second set of photos that she claims the photographer promised to keep private. 'Absent allegations of fraud, duress, or some other wrongdoing, Myskina's claimed misunderstanding of the Release's terms does not excuse her from being bound on the contract,' the judge said. And as for her claim that there was an oral agreement limiting her consent to the use of the photos only in GQ, he said 'the parol[e] evidence rule bars the admission of any prior or contemporaneous negotiations or agreements offered to contradict or modify the terms of the written agreement.'" by Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal
07-21-2005