In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins.
In other situations (as where the claims have been satisfied by the payment of a certain sum of money), the plaintiff and defendant can simply file a notice that the case has been dismissed.
Both sides (regardless of relative monetary resources) often have a strong incentive to settle to avoid the costs (such as legal fees, finding expert witnesses, etc.
[6] In American law, settlement agreements are normally private contracts, not court orders, except for consent decrees, which are relatively uncommon in the United States.
In these cases, the court order may refer to another document which is not disclosed, but which may be revealed to prove a breach of the settlement.
[7] The confidentiality of settlements is controversial as it allows damaging actions to remain secret, as occurred in the Catholic sexual abuse scandal.
For example, in 1990 Florida passed a 'Sunshine in Litigation' law which limits confidentiality from concealing public hazards.
[9] In England and Wales, if the matter is already before the courts, except in a case where the claim is to be dismissed outright and the Claimant agrees to pay the Defendant's costs, the matter is usually dealt with by a consent order, signed by the legal representatives of both parties and approved by the judge.