Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the reasons that influence the decision to settle a personal injury lawsuit rather than proceed to court for a trial. Additionally, this study compared plaintiff attorneys and insurance company attorneys reasons for settlement in personal injury lawsuits to determine whether there are significant differences between the two groups. Subjects, 28 plaintiff attorneys and 57 insurance company attorneys, rated the importance of or degree of agreement with 77 statements related to their decision to settle or to recommend settlement. T tests revealed significant differences between the two groups on 31 of the 77 items. Among all 85 attorneys, the top four reasons for settlement were (a) if the opposing attorney offers realistic settlement figures, a jury trial will offer more risk than advantage; (b) settlements are an attractive alternative to a trial partly because of the high costs of litigation; (c) in deciding whether to settle, attorneys attempt to determine the probable verdict in light of the evidence; and (d) attorneys attempt to determine the value of an immediate settlement compared to the uncertainty of a trial. Verf.-Referat