Be reasonable! Protecting the costs benefits that may arise from an offer to settle a dispute

Key Points:

There are many factors that must be considered when making an offer to settle a dispute. Whether an offer is reasonable will affect whether there is a costs benefit in making the offer.

There are many factors to consider when making an offer to settle a dispute, including:

• the prospects of receiving a favourable judgment;
• the costs of proceeding to judgment;
• how valuable the vindication of a judgment may be;
• the loss of privacy that results from a published judgment that may be freely available online;
• adverse publicity;
• whether it is important to maintain cordial relations with the opposing party after the dispute is resolved;
• the distraction to management of dealing with the dispute; and