Campaign contributions – direct and indirect, and transparent or hidden – are frequent topics for charges and counter-charges of bias and illegal campaign finance. In that light, it’s interesting to read and think about why State Farm and plaintiffs agreed to a $250 million settlement that mooted a trial of the long-pending litigation regarding campaign contributions related to the election of a member of the Supreme Court of Illinois. Articles are everywhere – e.g. here . The articles, however, do not address the point of greatest interest to me. That is, what are the settlement terms regarding public access – or not – to the complete record of discovery taken in the case.