What Does it Mean to Settle a Civil Court Case?
When a person sues a company or another person in a civil lawsuit, they are usually seeking damages. In the US, damages are assigned a monetary value. When the person suing, usually called the plaintiff, wins the case, they are paid money by the defendant. Sometimes the judge or jury will award the amount requested by the plaintiff. Other times, they will be given less. If the plaintiff does not win the case, they receive nothing. Not all cases go to trial. Sometimes the parties will agree to settle the case before it goes to trial. This can be done for a number of reasons. One is that the parties want the case to end. Often the subject of financial or emotional distress, a lawsuit can drag on for months or even years. After a while, it may be easier to end the case than to continue on through the many lengthy steps involved. There is usually a degree of what some may consider to be an invasion of privacy. A civil case usually requires answering written questions called interrogatories
