A strike which threatened to disrupt High Court and Supreme Court sittings from today was averted last night when court clerks backed a settlement agreed between their union, IMPACT, and the Department of Justice.The union said the deal recognised its right to be consulted on proposed changes in promotion procedures. In the meantime, management had agreed not to impose competitive interviews. "This is a common sense approach. We never objected to competitions in principle, but our members were not prepared to have change foisted upon them without agreement," said the union's assistant general secretary, Mr Peter Nolan.The dispute had threatened to cause serious disruption of court sittings.