In a surprise filing Tuesday, lawyers agreed to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Tulane student Marco G. “Mike” Minuto alleging that Harvard College had reneged on a promise of admission made by football coach Tim Murphy.

The Minuto family said they sought the dismissal to avoid a long, drawn-out court battle.

The dismissal came two days before the first scheduled hearing on the case in U.S. District Court in Boston.

“The decision to dismiss the lawsuit was a very prudent move on the Minutos’ part given the preponderance of evidence in the matter,” Dean of Admissions Marlyn McGrath-Lewis ’70-’73 said.

Tuesday’s filing, signed by both Minuto family lawyer Joseph F. Hardcastle and Harvard attorney Robert W. Iuliano, said that the dismissal came “with prejudice”—meaning that the matter cannot be raised again—and both sides agreed to pay for their own costs in the case.

“This case is over,” Hardcastle said.

The lawsuit, filed in early July, asked the court to order Harvard to admit Minuto this fall as a member of the Class of 2004. The suit charged that Murphy offered Minuto admission before Harvard “reconsidered” and denied him a place.

As a result of his failed plans to transfer, the lawsuit alleged that Minuto did not receive a full scholarship to play football at Tulane that he was otherwise promised.