The great majority of business litigation matters are settled at some stage. There are many reasons to settle, as I have discussed at times in this Blog. Essentially, a settlement is an opportunity to avoid risks/exposures. Another way to say that is a settlement is a way to avoid losing worse.
My mentor used to say “If you settle, you can’t win.” Truer words have never been spoken. This is not to criticize settlements. To the contrary, most cases should be settled. But as I sit on my couch watching college football this afternoon, it occurs to me that each contest will have a winner and a loser. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the teams had a chance to settle the game off the field, and in the process, to avoid the risk of injury, the chance of dropping in the rankings, or the cost of traveling to an away game. On second thought, I think I’ll just go back to watching the games.