Description: Trial judges are making greater efforts to promote settlements than ever before. These efforts, one aspect of increased involvement in the pretrial process, reflect judicial concern over the growing number of lawsuits, escalating costs, and increasingly complex claims and defenses.Civil justice, in the opinion of many, costs too much and takes too long. The problem is not simply that cases proceed to trial when they should have settled, but also that settlements often occur much later than they should.Settlements are desirable, not just because trials are costly to litigants and court systems, but because settlements allow parties to "manage their own disputes" and avoid the uncertainties and limitations of the winner-take-all, imposed decisions that courts make in fully litigated cases. Settlement also offers privacy to litigants and enables them to consider opportunities for resolutions that would not be available in a trial judgment.This book provides judges with a framework in which to consider alternative techniques for settlement and to identify those that they find both congenial and appropriate so that they may organize and plan comprehensive, cost-effective, and satisfying settlement strategies.

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