It's not always the notion that a party has a “good case” or even a “great case” - is it? Even with a “great case” parties settle for non-litigation outcome reasons [is this another way of saying “risk”?] as is demonstrated in this article from the ContraCosta Times involving a nuclear scientist once identified in the news media as the target of a government spying investigation. The defendants were the U.S. government and five media organizations all of whom contributed to the settlement. Take a look at the motivations behind the media’s “exceptionally” unusual $750,000.00 payment and the government’s payment of $895,000.00. The multi-party media defendants contributed disproportionately to their total payment [frequently a common multi-party defendant scenario] and the scientist will not personally receive any of the government’s payment. How come?
Well, you'll need to read this interesting article to gather the lateral thinking behind the settlement!
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