$2 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Swami Rama charging abuse. Berkshires ashram guru confessed to multiple affairs costing $2.5 million in damages.

Wongful incarceration can result in a million dollars paid out per year of incarceration in major cases involving major corruption.

Walmart was ordered to paid $ 2.6 million due to selling ammunition to minors buy Florida Supreme Court.

A hospital that released a dangerous person settle out of court for $150,000.00 to the victims.

The US Justice Department has won settlement of more than $1.5 billion against drug companies for paying kickbacks to doctors or engaging in illegal marketing of their drugs.

Settlements can be complex, highly structured.

Settlements can be conditional.

Negotiated Settlements can happen any time before or after the filing of any legal action.

Not meeting the conditions of the settlement can cause the settlement to be forfeited.

An annuity can be part of the settlement.

A lumpsum settlement can be done.

A cease and desist order can be part of the settlement, a stipulation, or court order.

Settlements may or may not be taxed depending of the purpose or type of damages (to make them whole, or as punishment to the defendant) or income of the plaintiff, but usually lost income is considered taxable.

Out-of-court settlements may be most common when the defendant does not want pay publicity to hurt their career, and may not be very ethical, and can be dangerous to the person who likely should go to the police, and complain if their has been criminal activity on the part of the person, who may wish to stay out of prison, and could still harm the witness or injured, or wronged victim.

Settlements made out-of-court may be suspicious, especially in vehicle accident cases, and may mean the attorney and/or the insurance company is involved in unethical behavior, but it may also mean the case is so obvious, and the damages are so small that the court does not really need to determine the facts regarding the case.

Excessive settlements may be less common than most may think, and most persons may settle for MUCH less than the jury or judge awards.

Often the settlements in class actions are NOT given to the victims and do not result in reduced product prices for the victims because the victims do not save their receipts or know how to collect the settlements, so the attorneys may end up collecting the settlement after a certain period of time.

Attorney fees, or their part of the settlement, may be reduced by the judge or by law makers or by law in cases where the award is very high, or excessive, for the work the attorneys did on the case and in some cases it may be less than 50%, and may go down to about 15% if the award is in the millions.

Settlements that an attorney suggests may be contrary to public policy and the best interests of their clients and may actually hinge on their personal needs and connections with insurance companies, politicians, government officials, even the parties on the other side of the case, and out-of-court settlements may be the most open to abuse and the plaintiffs may need to seek and attorney, even go to governments criminal prosecutors, to see if their attorney did not do what was in their best interest and this may be more common than most would think. Most adjusters will settle a case if a reasonable offer is made because they want the case off their desk.

The amount of money an attorney can receive as his/her percentage in an out-of-court settlement may be limited by law, and many out-of-court settlements may be a coverup of criminal activity or there just not a need to waste the courts time in an obvous case with rather small damages usually involving funds from an insurance company.

Adjusters may accept reasonable settlement offers if they want to get cases off their desks.

Out-of-court settlements should be encouraged in large cases where criminal activity needs to be covered-up or hidden so the wrongdoers can do more criminal activity and NOT go to prison.