Slam dunk cases very rarely exist. This point cannot be over-emphasized. You may have documents to support your position, people who promise that they'll testify on your behalf, and what appears to be a clear case of injustice. However, the reality is, the smoking gun document is very rare, injustice is not always or even typically unlawful, and what people say they will do on your behalf often changes once they are asked to speak out in public and place their own employment at risk.
Your family, friends and colleagues may have opinions about how much your case is worth, but they often do not understand the hurdles and expenses involved in getting to a high value settlement.
There are no certainties in the law. Sometimes, despite good lawyering, a case will end with no money award at all. Discoveries about the facts or the law made after the case has begun can change how a case develops as can matters entirely external to the case, such as getting assigned a judge who is known to be bad for plaintiffs or a state agency that takes years to adjudicate a matter.