The Cost of Not Settling a Lawsuit

A recent NY Times article began:

“Note to victims of accidents, medical malpractice, broken contracts and the like: When you sue, make a deal.”

That is the clear lesson of a soon-to-be-released study of civil lawsuits that has found that most of the plaintiffs who decided to pass up a settlement offer and went to trial ended up getting less money than if they had taken that offer.

“The lesson for plaintiffs is, in the vast majority of cases, they are perceiving the defendant’s offer to be half a loaf when in fact it is an entire loaf or more,” said Randall L. Kiser, a co-author of the study and principal analyst at DecisionSet, a consulting firm that advises clients on litigation decisions.

Defendants made the wrong decision by proceeding to trial far less often, in 24% of cases, according to the study; plaintiffs were wrong in 61%of cases. In just 15% of cases, both sides were right to go to trial — meaning that the defendant paid less than the plaintiff had wanted but the plaintiff got more than the defendant had offered.” While each case is unique and there are many factors that go into evaluating cases for trial and settlement, an experienced trial lawyer can help navigate the decision-making process. For the entire article, go to: www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/business/08law.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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