A party facing financial disaster will fight harder if pressed, but may be more amenable to considering settlement because of fear. In litigation, unreasonableness usually takes the form of denial of a well-established fact, refusal to disclose or produce documents relevant to the case, or bitter animosity toward an opposing party or lawyer. While business people are supposed to make decisions based on economics, experience shows that they often seem to ignore economics. Knowing whether these kinds of considerations are at work in your case is essential to estimating case costs. While this factor is important, clients sometimes tend to overestimate its impact.
Opponents can be more resilient than anticipated.
In addition, it is always necessary to consider who else might be dragged into a case as a cross-defendant. Adding even one new or unexpected litigant can significantly increase the cost of a lawsuit for the other participants, and significantly affect the chances for settlement. Weighing these factors is an essential first step. None of the other factors can be correctly evaluated if the strengths and weaknesses of the parties in the case have not been considered first. What the claims and defenses are will determine what the disputed issues are, and that should determine what, and how much, information each side will want to obtain during discovery.