The Fishbowl lawsuit is being settled.

“Parties settled and need time to work on the settlement agreement,” a notice on the D.C. Superior Court’s online docket says (as the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple first reported earlier today).

City Desk was actually at the settlement meeting in front of Judge Thomas Motley in courtroom 212 this morning in D.C. Superior Court. 

When lawyers for both parties informed the judge that a member of the media was present, the judge said the meeting was off the record and moved the discussions behind closed doors. After City Desk objected, the judge said the meeting would have been off the record regardless of whether a reporter was present or not.

Publicist Wendy Gordon filed the juicy libel lawsuit against FishbowlDC and its lead writer, Betsy Rothstein, over the site’s “Wendy Wednesday” series, in which Gordon was portrayed as a sex-crazed drunk.

Another status hearing is set for Nov. 6.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery