It is understood both firms have already agreed to sign the settlement without the promise of fees.
The nub of the problem concerns the closing, or settlement, costs, a bewildering blizzard of fees that can grow beyond a borrower's expectations.
The attorneys general have asked for the servicers to pay a settlement fee of $20 billion or more, much of which would go to cut the debt of delinquent borrowers.
However Coyle believes another "shotgun" licence fee settlement of the kind the BBC went through in 2010 would be "scandalous".
The BBC "couldn't stay the same", he said, and would require another £100m a year in the run-up to charter renewal and the settlement of a new licence fee.
Once those are received, the rights holder knows to whom they should send a nasty form letter describing just how many thousands the downloader could be sued for, but offering for it to all go away (for now) if they pay a "settlement fee" of a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
Under the terms of the global settlement, legal fees would be paid by the tobacco companies and would be treated separately from the money for the settling states.
"This reality is the lifeblood of the patent assertion industry, because the threat of fees often forces an undeserved settlement".
The cost, in terms of settlements, legal fees and management time, is not the only problem, the brief argues.
He later won a feeble settlement of $3,000 – just $500 after legal fees and travel costs.
