What are the Pros and Cons of Settling a Case

An Orange County business litigation attorney can provide you with help in determining the best way to resolve your case. Whether you are a plaintiff in a civil case or you are a defendant in a civil case, you want to ensure that you make smart choices about whether to go to court to fight for your interests or whether you want to try to resolve your case through an out-of-court settlement.

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP has provided representation to many defendants who are suing or who are being sued. We have both litigation experience as well as experience negotiating favorable settlements.

Because we have an extensive legal background evaluating evidence and presenting cases on behalf of clients in court, as well as extensive experience with out-of-court settlement negotiations, we can help you to weigh the pros and cons of each option so you can make the right decision about how best to resolve your claim.

You should give us a call to work with an Orange County business litigation attorney on our team to evaluate the specifics of your case and decide whether to settle or sue. You can also read on to find some of the pros and cons of each of these options so you’ll be better prepared to decide whether to fight in court or try to negotiate a settlement agreement.

Advantages of Settling a Case

Settling a case has some significant benefits for both plaintiffs and defendants. Some advantages of settling include:

• Avoiding uncertainty: If a case goes to court, there’s no guarantee if a plaintiff will be awarded any damages at all and there’s no clear way to predict exactly how much a defendant could have to pay.  Plaintiffs benefit from settling because they know they’ll get some kind of remedy and defendants benefit because they can control their costs more and don’t have to agree to a settlement they don’t think is fair or appropriate.
• Avoiding court proceedings: Court proceedings can be costly and stressful for all involved parties. Taking a dispute to court can also be damaging to your brand identity.   If you are able to negotiate a settlement, you can include a confidentiality agreement to ensure that details about the dispute are kept confidential.
• Resolving the legal issues quickly: You may be able to negotiate a settlement quickly and resolve the dispute in a timely manner, rather than waiting months or even years for the dispute to be resolved in court.

There may also be other advantages depending upon the specifics of your situation. Talking with a lawyer is the best way to determine if the pros of settling outweigh the cons.

Disadvantages of Settling a Case

While settling often makes sense, there are disadvantages as well. The biggest disadvantage is that you don’t get to have your day in court.

For a defendant, this means that the defendant doesn’t get a chance to avoid liability. The defendant has to provide some remedy to the plaintiff to convince the plaintiff to settle, so by agreeing to a settlement, the defendant loses a chance to defend himself.

For plaintiffs, not having your day in court potentially means you will end up with less in compensation than you might have received if you had filed a suit and seen the case through in trial.

Getting Help from an Orange County Business Litigation Attorney

An Orange County business litigation attorney at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can work closely with you from the start of your case to evaluate whether you would likely get a better outcome if you go to court or whether it would be best for you to try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement. We provide advice on this key issue to both plaintiffs and to defendants.

We also provide assistance to clients in either negotiating a settlement or preparing for a trial and going to court.  We have extensive experience helping clients to get favorable settlements or favorable court verdicts and we are ready to put our considerable legal experience to work to help you make sure your involvement with the legal system goes as smoothly as possible.

Whether you are a plaintiff  or a defendant, we are ready to fight for your rights so give us a call at 866-237-8129 or contact us online today to find out how we can help you.