One of the unique challenges of being a trial lawyer is handling the emotional roller coaster that comes with having a hotly disputed case settle on the courthouse steps. 

Although the vast majority of cases settle before trial ever begins, a lawyer cannot count on that happening, and so must prepare as though trial is a certainty.  This means developing a theme, marshaling the evidence, preparing witnesses, jury instructions, evidentiary motions, opening statements, and all of the many other tasks that a diligent lawyer must perform to be prepared to empanel a jury and present his client's best case. 

Indeed, preparing a lawsuit for trial is much like preparing to go into battle--the lawyer, like the soldier, must update his intel on the enemy, check his weapons and ammunition, confirm his strategies (is there a primary and secondary plan of attack, defense, retreat and surrender?), survey the "lay of the land," and most importantly, mentally prepare for the coming fight.  Only with this kind of thorough preparation can a soldier or lawyer confidently enter the battlefield (or courtroom) and face off against a hostile adversary.  And much like a soldier waiting in a foxhole before confronting enemy fire, the lawyer on the eve of jury selection has an excess of adrenalin and emotional energy pumping through his veins.

An eleventh hour settlement renders moot all of the lawyer's trial preparation, and can result in a huge emotional let-down.  Like a battle that ends before the soldier gets out of the foxhole, a case that settles on the eve of trial leaves the trial attorney feeling conflicted and dissatisfied, a combination of relief and disappointment.  After mentally and physically preparing for battle, it is often difficult to put down your arms and acknowledge a truce rather than face down the enemy and demonstrate your superiority and might. 

But in the end, we must remember that we are merely advocates for our clients' interests, and when the client is ready to settle the case--even on the courthouse steps--the lawyer is ethically bound to put aside his ego and his own interests, and do that which the client desires.