Why Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni settled before their explosive trial?

After months of headlines, courtroom drama and enough legal paperwork to make anyone dizzy, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni finally pulled the plug on their It Ends With Us legal battle – but experts say the real loser may have been their bank accounts.

“Millions,” New York attorney Richard Schoenstein said of the estimated legal bill. “The combined legal expense is in the multiple millions.”

And with roughly 1,500 docket entries and powerhouse lawyers charging $1,000 an hour, the meter apparently never stopped running.

Attorney Megan Thomas did not sugarcoat it either, calling the cost “an obscene amount.”

The settlement came just weeks before trial; which legal insiders say is classic Hollywood courtroom behaviour.

“We often say cases settle on the courthouse steps,” Thomas explained, adding that once a trial gets too public – and too risky – suddenly peace starts looking very attractive.

That risk only grew after several of Lively’s claims, including sexual harassment and defamamtion, were dismissed in April. Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit was also tossed out, leaving both sides staring at a trial that promised more headlines than victories.

And then there’s the PR nightmare factor.

“There’s also the potential adverse PR impact of a trial,” Schoenstein noted, warning that more damaging details – and possibly more people – could have been dragged into the mess.

Translation? Nobody really wanted to roll the dice in front of a jury.

The final settlement terms remain private, though lawyers suspect the usual celebrity cleanup package: confidentiality, mutual releases an, yes, a very firm non-disparagement clause.