Pre-litigation settlement

Resolving a claim before any complaint is filed.

A documented pattern can sometimes be resolved by presenting it to a company before filing suit. No complaint, no docket, no public record.

Companies sometimes prefer it: settling quietly avoids a filing that alerts other firms and creates a citable ruling.

Related terms

• Class action - One lawsuit brought on behalf of everyone harmed the same way.
• Class representative - The named person who stands in for the whole class.
• Class certification - The court ruling that lets one case speak for everyone.
• Arbitration clause - Contract language sending disputes to a private forum instead of court.
• Class-action waiver - A term saying you may only bring a claim for yourself, never as a group.
• Unconscionability - A contract term so one-sided a court refuses to enforce it.
• Contract of adhesion - A take-it-or-leave-it contract with no room to negotiate.
• Assent - Whether you actually agreed, and how the company proved it.