No one wants to go to court if it is at all avoidable. Whether the case involves damage of personal property, discrimination, a violation of environmental law, or any number of other accusations, parties involved on both sides of the dispute typically benefit from settling outside of court, circumventing expensive lawyer fees and lengthy trials or hearings. And it all comes down to having a solid pre-litigation strategy and possibly the use of dependable mediation services, if the involved parties don’t think they will be able to see eye-to-eye on their own.
Individuals who might’ve benefited from a good pre-litigation strategy
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1. Cruella De Vil
Though she was pretty set on getting the fur she desired, had Cruella De Vil received a notice, whether from PETA or the owners of the poor pups, perhaps she would have considered a different path. After all, she would have known that when there’s such a notice, there will soon be an investigation to follow, conducted by lawyers and insurance companies alike. And with all the four-legged, spotted-fur pieces of evidence running around, she would be wise to consider cooperating, though it might have taken an effective neutral mediator.
2. Darth Vader
It wouldn’t have taken much of an investigation to confirm accusations against the Dark Sith Lord either. With any number of Jedi-sympathizers and possibly even turned Storm Troopers available to give witness statements, Darth Vader would be looking at some serious fines, even before any official documentation such as medical records (he did sever Luke’s hand, among other brutal offenses). He was, however, going a little bit further than discrimination of the Jedi Order, when attempting to wipe them all out completely, so after a point he might have been beyond the hope of squeaking by with an alternative dispute resolution, or out-of-court settlement.
3. Magneto
The notorious X-men villain would similarly be facing some pretty serious accusations. After the initial notice and investigation, a demand would be sent to Magneto’s insurance company… provided he had one. That might be the tricky part, as it is hard to imagine he would worry about something like insurance. But declaring war on humans, even if he’s simply fighting for the civil rights of his own kind, would garner some sort of legal action against him for sure, and eventually he’d be looking at settlement negotiations, in which he would hopefully participate in finding some sort of compromise by arbitration, or he’d be looking at a formal lawsuit and a court trial.
There are benefits to cooperating in a pre-litigation strategy. Tragically, for these well-known villains and many more, they’ll never know the resolution of amicable arbitration.