"We're signing off on a lot of settlement agreements where we shake our heads and ask, 'Why is this person settling to this?' " Judge Lipman said.
So I'm driven, not by trying to take over the world, but in the first instance, everyone buys in my ICO and I take out a lot of exchange risk, I take out a lot of settlement risk, etc etc.
In particular, they will be watching alertly the crucial pay round in early 2007, when a lot of settlements are due to be agreed.
Still, Meyer emphasizes that the firm does not shy away from going to court: "Our firm is unique in that while we do a lot of settlements and mediation, we also try a lot of our cases," she observes.
"What we've seen for some time going back 20-plus years, is that the SEC has figured out that you can get a lot of settlements and a lot of money as long as the settlements are paid by the company and not the officers who authorized or carried out the misconduct," said James Cox, a corporate and securities law professor at Duke University.
"What matters is a settlement, not lots of settlements," says Mr Kerry.He hugs the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, a former firebrand who vilified Palestinians and was cordially detested by them in return, whereas his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, used to shun him.
Islands that were uninhabited when we sailed past them are now big holiday resorts and scientific stations, and along the coast there are now a lot of human settlements.
"He inherited that position in a very, very difficult time, both from the reputational risk we were suffering as well as how that affected the morale of the organization and the effect that a lot of these settlements had on our bottom line last year".
"And in the 80s, when there were a lot of convoy settlements, the police calling me up and saying, 'There's 250 vehicles leaving Norwich, they'll be with you by 9.30 tonight.'" Billy Bragg, a Glastonbury veteran now, remembers that decade in the festival's history more fondly.
"There are lots of reasons settlements are chosen as a best way of resolving an outstanding matter," she said, "so it's important to note that there were, in this case, no findings of fact".
Mr Prescott last week told MPs it was a "load of rubbish" to claim the government had blocked a 16% rise but Mr Gilchrist said last night: "There is no doubt in my mind that had the offer been put to us last July I'm fairly certain it would have resulted, after a lot of negotiations, in a settlement that would have avoided the strike".
