Dan Zegart, a senior fellow at the Climate Investigations Center and author of the book "Civil Warriors: The Legal Siege on the Tobacco Industry," told DeSmog: "Bringing in Ted Wells is a sign that ExxonMobil isn't thinking settlement -- they're going to fight these attorney general actions tooth and nail.
On the other hand, there are reasons for thinking that the settlement may not be the corporate victory it first appears to be.
"We haven't really been approaching life since the settlement thinking: 'Oh, I can count on this and that,' because we didn't really know how things would pan out," Tyler says.
The family moved to Bismarck after the settlement thinking life would be different in the state's capitol.
"It's a challenge for our own people to get out of our comfort zone, to get out of our settlement thinking and to start helping these people out from West Papua".
It is thought he is seriously thinking of seeking a settlement on his contract and then walking away, having secured West Ham's Premier League status.
Here, too, it is likely that parish officials were still thinking in terms of settlement law and employment prospects, and applying a longstanding model of child labour and training to a changing and mixed economy.
How about thinking of refugee camps and settlements as more than just temporary population centres where people wait for the war to end?
Mr Prodi's speech to the parliament on May 4th hinted at big ideas: "We should already be thinking of the post-war settlement," he said, proposing a Balkans peace conference.
These are not often the first words that come to mind when thinking about the small seaside settlement of Parihaka, Taranaki.
" 'Gary Wayne, well, this is what you was worth,' " she recalled thinking, and in that sense, the settlement has inflicted pain on top of pain.
