Attorney urges companies to settle weak cases.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: LITIGATION

When your company is sued in a high-stakes litigation matter, the first thing you need to do is conduct an in-depth analysis of the most likely outcomes, says Stewart Weltman, principal of the Weltman Law Firm in Chicago. "This analysis requires that both your company and its outside counsel be brutally open and honest with one another--something that can be difficult for a variety of reasons, including outside counsel's natural reluctance to be the bearer of bad news at the outset of a case for fear that they might appear weak and lose you as a client," he says.

Weltman says most top litigators believe that they can win every case--but points out that this isn't exactly what's needed when you need to shine the cold hard light required for initial case assessment.

He urges engaging an independent "settlement/case analysis counsel"--who may be an individual lawyer experienced in high-stakes matters--whose only interest will be to provide the client with an objective view of the case, from the beginning and as it progresses.

The truly hard question, Weltman says, is what to do when you conclude during the initial case analysis that your case is weak and that the most likely outcome is a substantial verdict against your company. At that point, he says, "you essentially have two options: (1) you can litigate in the hope that you gain...