Identification

• The New York State Court System lists the items that all notice of settlements should have in order to be legitimate. Look for items like the address of the court presiding over the case, the name of the county and state where the case was originally filed, the correctly spelled names of the defendant and plaintiff and the date on which the letter was prepared. You must be identified in some way as the plaintiff and your information must appear as well. The notice of settlement can be quite lengthy; the Google Book Search Settlement Notice, for instance, was 303 pages total.
  
  

Who Gets One?

• Every attorney, defendant and plaintiff receives a notice of settlement after the terms have been negotiated and agreed upon. A copy also goes on record where it is open for public viewing or sealed by court order.
  
  

What Does It Mean?

• A notice of settlement means that both sides have reached a compromise that both can agree with. It's your notice of the damages that everyone will receive alongside the rules you will have to abide by in order to keep the money. Some settlements come with an agreement to keep the terms confidential, while others stipulate a public apology, an order to pull a product off shelves or an agreement to never sue the company again. Whatever the terms, you must abide by them or you will have to give the damage award back.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The notice of settlement is a signal that the end is near, but the case isn't over yet. The court must sign off on the settlement. A judge can refuse to accept the settlement because it is illegal or inequitable or for many other reasons. The judge can modify the settlement or simply reject it, sending both sides back to the drawing board. That 303-page Google Book Search settlement was rejected by a judge in March 2011. According to the periodical, "The Chronicle," the federal judge presiding over the case felt the settlement was too far-reaching.