Quote:
Originally Posted by fleury
Perhaps, but it was a civil case which means beyond the balance of probabilities, and the fact that Bertuzzi made all those incriminating quotes before doing the deed, showed to me a ton of premeditation. I don't think getting journalists who were there who all quoted him, would be hard to get to testify, but the truth of the matter is that it's said that 95% of civil cases are settled before going to trial. I expected Moore to really have his day in court so I'm somewhat puzzled that he went that easily for the cash 2 weeks before trial. I'd think a lot of money was thrown his way for him to do that.
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If you are awarded less than a "formal offer to settle", you end up paying potentially twice the other sides legal costs and all of their disbursements (money spent on expert reports etc..) from the date of the formal offer.
The settlement amount would have been at the lower range of what created risk for trial. So if Moore's lawyers think there is a chance he could get less than the amount offered, they will take it to avoid the risk of paying costs.
There's also a chance that Bertuzzi does not have that many personal assets. In which case, insurance coverage limits would have been a huge deciding factor. Bertuzzi is probably very wealthy, but he would not be the first NHLer to blow his cash.
Edit: another big possibility is that the NHL agreed to pay more than they should have to avoid the bad press from a trial. The NHL, as a whole, is worth a lot more than a few extra millions in Moore's pocket.