Defendants accused (perhaps wrongly) of serious misconduct Many defendants could be ruined simply by being publicly accused of certain offenses (rape, sexual harassment, embezzlement, fraud, malpractice, and the like)—or can be materially harmed even by being sued for more minor matters, such as in landlords' unlawful detainer actions against tenants. [1] Even if they know they're innocent, they might agree to settle as a means of avoiding the lawsuit even being filed, thus… [read post]