It's almost a given: the more horrific the injury, the more appalling the negligence, the more likely the inevitable lawsuit will settle on confidential terms.

It's a trade-off: public accountability in exchange for expediency—and money.

And so went the lawsuit against a Kansas City, Kansas amusement park, where 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was decapitated on a waterslide last year. His family reached undisclosed settlements with the companies involved in January and April.