Judge Morton Denlow (Ret.) practiced as a trial lawyer for 24 years before becoming a U.S. magistrate judge in the Northern District of Illinois in 1996. He served with distinction as a magistrate judge for more than 16 years before retiring from the bench and becoming a private mediator in 2012. Judge Denlow authored the following "Top Ten Ways To Prevent Settlement."

1. Insult opposing counsel and the client at the settlement conference (e.g., accuse them of lying and cheating).
2. Fail to bring a party representative with full settlement authority (e.g., bring a party representative who has no authority beyond the existing offer).
3. Spend more in legal fees than is involved in the case (e.g., come to the settlement conference having already spent $75,000 in fees to defend a $30,000 claim).
4. Put your own interest in attorney's fees ahead of your client's interest.
5. Refuse to make any settlement demand or offer.
6. Pull your settlement demand out of thin air, without a factual or legal basis for it (e.g., demand $1 million in settlement when the maximum statutory recovery is $300.000).
7. Raise your demand or lower your offer at the settlement conference (e.g., announce at the beginning of the settlement conference that your demand has now increased from $25,000 to $100,000).
8. Announce at the beginning of the settlement conference that you have no interest in discussing settlement until after the judge has ruled on the summary judgment motion which you intend to file.
9. Show up at the settlement conference without first looking at the file.
10. Fail to show up at the scheduled settlement conference.