A lot of people are generally aware that most civil cases settle before a trial occurs. The way the legal system is geared, courts and the law favor settlements. The law favors alternative dispute resolution, which includes mediation and arbitration.
A settlement is an agreement between parties to resolve their case in return for consideration to both sides. The defendant generally receives a release from litigation in a settlement, while the plaintiff receives a lesser version of its hope-for relief. The saying goes that in the best possible settlement each party initially feels disappointed, or like he or she lost their case. The reason for the saying is that settlements involve compromise, and it is the rare litigant who understands that litigation is not a forum for achieving a windfall entitlement. Accordingly, a good settlement is one where both sides are encountered with an outcome that they did not expect. Also, many people are clouded by news stories of extravagant verdicts and do not understand the reality of litigation is very different. Last, litigants are fail to view their own case or behavior objectively in a light that others would see it. The benefit of settlement is that each party receives a termination of the litigation and some form of relief that it has helped to fashion, rather than leaving the outcome for a jury to decide.
Our firm has experience in all types of alternative dispute resolution — in addition to jury and non-jury trials. We have served as mediators and represented clients in mediation and arbitration. Jury trials are extremely speculative; it is the rare case that should proceed to a jury trial. However, we have also tried at least half a dozen jury trials spanning back over a little more than a year where parties could not reach a settlement through the normal process. Not all cases that are tried should be tried. Cases are tried to a jury where parties cannot reach a settlement, and not necessarily when the cases should be tried.
A client in an alternative dispute resolution proceeding is generally required to attend the proceeding, to remain at the proceeding, and to negotiate in good faith.
