Quality, Not Quantity: An Analysis of Confidential Settlements and Litigants' Economic Incentives

@article{Lothes2005QualityNQ,
  title={Quality, Not Quantity: An Analysis of Confidential Settlements and Litigants' Economic Incentives},
  author={Alison Lothes},
  journal={University of Pennsylvania Law Review},
  year={2005},
  volume={154},
  pages={433}
}
  • Alison Lothes
  • Published 1 December 2005
  • Law
  • University of Pennsylvania Law Review
The recent rise of “sunshine” legislation, which prohibits or reduces secret settlements of civil lawsuits, highlights public unease with confidential settlements. Recurring, highly publicized, dangerous events expose the costs of confidentiality: the Bridgestone/Firestone tire scandal and the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal are the most recent. Litigation regarding the Dalkon Shield, the Ford Pinto, and 
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4 Citations
Background Citations
1

4 Citations

Bargaining in the Shadow of the Website: Disclosure’s Impact on Medical Malpractice Litigation
TLDR
Evidence is found that defendants value confidentiality and are no longer willing to pay a confidentiality premium when websites disclose settlement outcomes, and evidence that website disclosure changes the composition of claims.
Contracts and the Implied Freedom of Political Communication
This article considers the phenomenon of contractually-imposed restraints on political communication. Such restraints often incidentally arise from broad limits on out-of-hours conduct imposed by…
Platform Procedure: Using Technology to Facilitate (Efficient) Civil Settlement
In this chapter, we explore the ability of courts to enhance the role of substantive law in case outcomes by reducing party litigation costs. When it becomes less costly for parties to engage…
Bargaining in the Shadow of the Website: Disclosure's Impact on Litigation Behavior
Investigates the significance of secrecy and disclosure for medical malpractice litigation.

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