Motivation

I settled several clients’ lawsuits over the last few weeks. Each settlement had a financial element to it, a payment from one side to the other. But looking back, each case had far more important non-economic terms to it. My clients had non-economic motivations that were at least as important as the financial ones, if not much more important. The other parties to the settlement very likely also had non-economic motivations for settling. It takes two to tango. Sometimes the key to getting to a resolution is putting the financial aspects aside for a moment and focusing on the non-economic motivations. Not every case has non-economic considerations that predominate, but for those that do, it is vital to focus on them strategically and to seize the opportunity to negotiate favorable terms in those areas.