A verbal agreement is an agreement that all parties agree on without it being written and signed. An example of this would be haggling to lower the price on a product or committing to do something while in a conversation. There can be paper trails that lead up to this point, but the final agreement is done verbally and not in writing. As a result, these types of agreements can be tough to defend in court should a dispute arise because there is less legitimate evidence about the agreement that can be used. Written agreements, however, are much easier to defend should a dispute arise because all the facts are there on paper. These types of agreements are also much more official and should be practiced at all times, since they can really make a difference such as in a case where you could lose your rights over a multi-million dollar idea but having that written agreement is just the evidence you need that you have ownership and rights over it. The only way for a verbal agreement to mean as much as that, is if the verbal agreement was recorded.