From Damages to Recovery: A Pre- Litigation Financial Analysis Framework
Becky Zhang and Pian Chen | April 23, 2026
In high-stakes litigation, a large damages award on paper may yield far less in the hands of plaintiffs. Treble damages sound powerful, but class actions routinely settle for less than single damages when defendants cannot cover their full exposure. Before committing significant capital and thousands of billable hours to a multi-year case, a critical threshold question must be answered: is there actually something to recover?