¨    Litigation Risk.   Litigation is not an end, but it is a means. In the United States today, litigation risk is a hazard that must be managed and cannot be ignored.  Those who have had their first experience with serious litigation in the U.S. courts may conclude that it represents the ritual equivalent of mutually assured destruction.  Everyone is unhappy at the end of the process.  Everyone loses, even the winner.  This suggests that litigation should never be viewed as the solution of first resort.  On the other hand, if you are never prepared to assume the risk of litigation under any circumstances, at some point you may well have to forego achieving your best result in business and financial affairs.  A categorical unwillingness to risk litigation is understandable, but it also tends to lead to premature compromise that falls short of reasonable objectives.