From the Bench: The Dos and Don’ts of Settlement Conferences

More than 25 years ago in these pages, the late Roger J. Miner of the Second Circuit contributed an article entitled, “The Don’ts of Oral Argument.” 14 Litig. (Summer 1988), at 3. It was and remains an enormously useful article for litigators preparing for appellate arguments (and, in many respects, for district court arguments as well). Given the proliferation of alternative dispute resolution in the intervening period as well as the high percentage of cases that are resolved prior to trial, it is vital to consider the settlement conference as just as integral to the litigation as any other part of the process. Accordingly, it seems appropriate to present an article similar to Judge Miner’s, designed to assist the litigator who is preparing for a court-directed settlement conference.