Supporters of Conor McGregor, and others, have published many comments online over the course of the High Court trial involving McGregor and his buddy James Lawrence.
A repeated accusation is that “she was only in it for the money” and “it’s a shakedown”, and similar accusations.
Anyone who understands or has any familiarity with civil litigation knows that this is not the case.
Because most civil litigation cases settle before they go to court.
And the motivation to settle a case where the respondent has plenty of money and a significant risk of reputational damage is right at the top of the scale.
Conor McGregor has plenty of money and the reputational damage likely to arise from a rape case would almost certainly have led to offers to settle and compromise the proceedings.
Any such offer would also take care of the plaintiff’s legal costs. And given the resources available, any offer is likely to have been substantial.
The likelihood, therefore, is Nikita Hand turned down substantial offers to settle this case and go away.
If she was only in it for the money, she would have had a great opportunity to trouser a good lump of cash without exposing herself to the publicity, opprobrium, and criticism of the general public in a case held under an enormous media spotlight.
Not to mention the sordid trawling over her private life and moralising about questionable decisions at or after a staff Christmas party in 2018.
Who would put themselves through that without considering the consequences and the easy way out?
No, if she was only in it for the money she would not have gone ahead with the case in the full glare of publicity and carrying the associated stress, ridicule, and examination of her medical history and records.
The likelihood is she could have done much better financially by settling the case.
The fact that she didn’t is testament to her strength and the value of the example she has shown other girls and women.