I agree it was senseless but, at the risk of offending lawyers, I hope the family and school come to an agreement without a long court battle. I think sometimes suing is the only option people ever consider.
In most cases I would agree, but in an instance like this, the family generally will receive a much greater compensation from the sympathies of a jury's decision than it could achieve through mediation or any other alternative dispute resolution.
Plus, having a public court hearing makes the court proceedings a matter of public record where we won't have to worry about those found ultimately responsible being "conveniently left out of the report" as Marshall Dillon said which may provide an additional sense of closure for the family as no criminal charges were filed.
In any case, I don't think ND will want to drag this out as they they have already been found to be at fault and will want to avoid further negative publicity. I'm certain they will want to settle discreetly outside of the courts, but I won't fault the family as simply being "litigious" for choosing to take it to the courts.
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