Question juridique clé
Whether the pending appeal became moot or had to be treated as withdrawn after the parties' settlement letter.
Solution extraite
The Court treated the filing of 25 February 2013 as a withdrawal of the appeal, not as technical mootness, because the settlement had not been submitted for approval.
Motifs extraits
Without court approval of the settlement, the proceedings before the Federal Supreme Court were not technically moot; the appropriate procedural characterization was withdrawal of the appeal.