Why Are Some Settlements Confidential?

I am in the process of trying to hire a personal injury lawyer.  In doing my research I find that some lawyers describe various cases on their website but state that the amounts of the settlements are confidential.  Why do they do that?

Because an agreement has been made with the insurance company that paid the money that the amount of the settlement is confidential.  In my experience, defendants and insurance companies who settle a case for significant money often demand that the settlement be kept confidential – they simply don’t want anyone to know how much they paid.   

A lawyer whose client has a confidential settlement is duty-bound not to disclose the amount of the settlement to anyone.  Thus, the lawyer will who wants potential clients to know what type of experience he or she has will do a brief summary of the case and simply state that the amount of the settlement was confidential.