95% of Civil Cases Get Settled

M More than 95% of civil cases are settled before trials because the parties usually agree to settle before the trial. Even on the day of the trial, it is possible to settle at the court. Why do these cases end up being settled?

Do You Want to Protect Your Privacy?
Once you begin a lawsuit, you have to submit the complaint as well as all related documents and statements used as evidence to the court, and these documents remain as court records for the rest of your life. All the court records are open to the public, which means that everyone has access to them. If somebody decides to publish using this public record, the ground for an invasion of privacy cannot be established. Also, both parties have to submit the evidence and need to be interrogated. Some litigants find it very uncomfortable being asked during the examination. They give up going for a trial once they learn about this from their lawyer and hope to settle in order to protect their personal information as well as privacy.

It can take up to 3 to 5 years

O Once you file the complaint, it might take up to 3 to 5 years to get the trial date. If you don’t want to wait for that long, you might want to change your plans. Just keep in mind that you can settle even after the trial date has been set.

Uncertainty of the Outcome

E Even if you go for a trial, no one can predict the final outcome. The possibility is always 50 to 50, and no one can guarantee whether you will win the case or not. The settlement seems to be a better option considering the duration of time as well as the cost of going for a trial. If you go for a trial, the question of who did wrong will be clearly answered. However, the defendant does not probably want to have that permanent court record in case he or she gets convicted. If he or she believes that the chances of being convicted are high, it will motivate him or her to settle so that there won’t be any permanent record.

How Much Money Can You “Actually” Get?

I If it is a lawsuit between two companies, the attorney fees will be at least $300,000 to $500,000. If the monetary damages you are seeking is within this range, it is better to settle. There is a possibility that you might not be able to actually receive the monetary compensation even if you win, when the losing party might not follow the court’s order. When this seems to be the more likely possibility, it is probably better to settle than to go to trial.

Emotional Stress

T The lawsuit will give you a lot of emotional stress from the beginning to the end. The judge might not believe your claim while having the burden of submitting the evidence. The other party might lie about the entire situation and it could be another source of stress. In the end, the emotional stress might seem greater than the expected monetary compensation. In that case, people give up in the middle and try to settle.

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