Legal Definitions - courthouse steps

Courthouse steps is a legal idiom that refers to the final, often urgent, settlement negotiations that occur between parties in a lawsuit just before a trial is scheduled to begin. This phrase emphasizes the critical timing and the pressure to resolve a case to avoid the time, expense, and uncertainty of a full trial, regardless of the actual physical location where these discussions take place.

• Example 1: Business Contract Dispute

  Two corporations were locked in a complex lawsuit over a disputed contract. The trial was set to commence on Monday morning. On Friday afternoon, their respective legal teams, recognizing the significant costs and risks of going to court, engaged in intense negotiations via video conference and phone calls, exchanging final offers and counter-offers. By late Friday, they announced they had reached a settlement.

  This illustrates "courthouse steps" because the settlement discussions occurred under the immediate pressure of the impending trial, representing a last-minute effort to avoid litigation, even though the lawyers were not physically at the courthouse.

• Example 2: Personal Injury Claim

  A plaintiff was suing a driver for injuries sustained in a car accident. Jury selection had concluded, and opening statements were scheduled for the following morning. The attorneys for both sides spent the evening in separate conference rooms at the courthouse, or even back at their offices, making frantic calls to their clients to approve a final settlement offer that had been proposed by the defense.

  Here, the negotiations are literally happening on the eve of the trial, highlighting the "last chance" aspect of the term. The proximity to the trial date, rather than the physical location, defines the "courthouse steps" moment.

• Example 3: Employment Discrimination Case

  An employee had filed a lawsuit against their former employer alleging discrimination. After months of discovery, the trial date was firmly set for the upcoming week. The legal teams, along with a court-appointed mediator, met in a neutral private office building over the weekend, engaging in marathon negotiation sessions to try and resolve the dispute before they had to present their cases to a jury.

  This scenario exemplifies "courthouse steps" because the critical settlement discussions are taking place under the imminent threat of trial, driven by the desire to avoid the courtroom battle, even though the negotiations are not physically occurring at the courthouse itself.