The New York Knicks sexual harassment case provides some great lessons on employment law.  Previously I touched on the Knicks case in explaining how companies could avoid sexual harassment claims.  Now the case has been settled and there are additional lessons to learn.

Frank Steinberg of the New Jersey Employment Law Blog explains the importance of "fee-shifting" in employment law discrimination cases.  In these cases the loser pays the attorneys’ fees of the other side.  This places a great deal of pressure on the defendants to consider settlement.  As Frank said,

It is quite possible that, depending on the cases, the fees could be greater than the damages awarded to the plaintiff.  Thus, a realistic evaluation of the likelihood of complete success should always be a part of the defense strategy and should be evaluated on a continuing basis. 

You should always consider business strategies for litigation.  I encourage you to approach litigation dispassionately and consider the best business approach to ending your dispute.  Sometimes the best business approach means litigation is necessary but only after you have carefully evaluated all aspects of your case to determine how to prevail, or at the very least, extract yourself from the litigation under the most favorable settlement terms.

Or, if you got your brains beat in like the Knicks did settlement is never a bad option.