Litigation Strategy and Case Evaluation
Exposure and Valuation
Settlement value reflects what the case is worth in negotiation rather than what a jury might award. It discounts the verdict range by liability risk and adds the value of avoided defense costs and trial uncertainty.
It is informed by comparable verdicts and settlements in the venue, adjusted for the specific facts.
Alternative Names:
Case Value, Resolution Value
Why it Matters?
Settlement value and exposure are different numbers serving different purposes, and conflating them causes real problems. Exposure describes the risk of proceeding; settlement value describes the price of resolving. A case with modest expected value but a plausible catastrophic outcome may warrant paying above its expected value, which is a judgment reserve setting alone will not capture.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How is settlement value different from exposure?
What data supports a settlement valuation?
