If a client is sued, do they always have to defend against the lawsuit?

We always advise our clients to defend the case unless the client is an obvious bankruptcy candidate because he or she has so many other creditors or lawsuits. But if you are victimized by only one lawsuit, why do nothing and give the plaintiff a default judgment? Defending a lawsuit is expensive, time consuming and emotionally draining, but we have found that most plaintiffs will settle for comparatively little – and will settle early – once they learn that our client is well-fortified. But we always want the opposition to know that they will be in for a fight if they don’t settle. After all, they also have lawyers to pay.