Risk Management

There are many reasons to settle a case.  The one that most people understand, and the most usual reason, is that the parties have found their way to a mutually acceptable solution to their dispute.  There are other reasons as well.  The one which is hardest for most clients to understand is settling in order to manage risk.  That's right, manage risk.  As I've said before, going to trial is a gamble.  There are two sides to every story; two ways of looking at every set of facts.  When he goes to trial, the client is gambling that the judge will look at the facts his way and thus give him what he wants, what he believes he deserves.  The problem is that the other side of the case is thinking the same thing.  The risk is that the judge will rule in favor of the other side, and that can have serious repercussions.  Settling allows the client to manage the risk, have some control over the variables, even if the ultimate result is not entirely acceptable to them.  For example, there may be a possibility that the court could order an award of alimony.  There are no alimony guidelines in Maryland, and the court can't make alimony non-modifiable, so the amount and term of the alimony are uncertain.  The client might settle for paying more child support than the child support guidelines require in return for a waiver of alimony.  Is such an agreement ideal for the client? Probably not.   Is it what the court would award?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  There's a risk to going to court to find out, and the possible result could be worse than the higher child support.  The client controls the risk by settling the case.  In that way, the settlement is acceptable.  Here in the Trenches.