Rise In Out-of-Court-Settlements Means Fewer Trials

The current issue of The Lawyers Weekly (Oct. 17, 2008 edition) features an article entitled Vanishing trials: Out-of-court settlements on the rise describing the widespread trend away from litigation and the effect this is having on the practice of law.

The article attributes the rapid rise in out-of-court settlements to factors such as:

• cost and length of litigation
• promotion of mediation by the court system itself
• changes in what clients expect of lawyers
• increased interest on the part of legal practitioners