While courtroom drama may make for great TV, a vast majority of civil lawsuits — around 97% — are settled before they ever go to trial. With such a skewed statistic, there must be some benefit to settling rather than taking a case all the way through a civil trial. So how do you know if it is better for you to settle or litigate? If you know all the factors, you can make a better decision.

Some of the benefits of reaching a settlement before trial include:

• Trials are more expensive
• Trials take more time — sometimes years
• Trials are stressful