It seems to me like this is just a bribe to shut up about the cause of the lawsuit. It doesn’t lead to justice, and is not punitive enough in the case of large corporations.
I find this disgusting and immoral, but maybe I’m getting something wrong…? I hope so.
Please explain to me why this is, I’m getting irrationally angry at the fact that no one goes to trial for anything, including environmental hazards, rape, etc.
Edit: Found a source that details all the good reasons to go to trial instead of settling. Personally, an admission of guilt and real consequences to a misdeed are incomparably more important than a slap on the wrist like a settlement. https://www.askadamskutner.com/personal-injury/dont-settle-outside-of-court/
Edit 2: I see all the replies mentioning time and costs as the biggest reasons. And I get that, rationally. But sometimes people are irrational, I can’t believe 90% of lawsuits settle… (actually it’s 95% - https://thelawdictionary.org/article/what-percentage-of-lawsuits-settle-before-trial-what-are-some-statistics-on-personal-injury-settlements/ )
An abnormal amount of lawsuits are settled because the prosecution is pushing serious charges they might not be able to prove. Then scare people into settling for charges less than what they actually did, specially by using the drawn out cost of lawsuits, long waiting times for trials(not getting out on bail until trial), etc. Since many people would rather take an average to low sentence from theft rather than risking minium sentencing from armed robbery.
You’re describing criminal cases, OP asked about civil. A civil case has no prosecution, no “charges” per se, and no “sentence” per se (in a civil case you have awarded damages instead).