Year-end settlements, driven by psychological, financial, and tax incentives, allow litigants and attorneys to avoid the holiday and trial-time stress while strategically resolving cases.

Consider the following dilemma: Sometime around February of any given year, an associate appears at a hearing to choose a trial date. The judge informs counsel that trial dates are available in December, and because judges set their cases when it is convenient for them, the matter is calendared on a date when eggnog and yuletide cheer are in season.

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