Entry in progress—B.P.
 
Google Books
Dufief’s Nature Diplayed:
Volume I:The Spanish language, la gramática inglesa, and the English reader
By Don Manuel Torres and, L. Hargou
Philadelphia, PA: Printed by T. & G. Palmer
1811
Pg. 388:
Mas vale mala avencia, que buena sentencia.
A bad settlement is better than a good law-suit.
 
Google Books
On the Trail of a Spanish Pioneer:
The Diary and Itinerary of Francisco Garcés, Volume 2
By Francisco Tomás Hermenegildo Garcés
Translated by Elliott Coues
New York, NY: Francis P. Harper
1900
Pg. 383:
There is a parallel Spanish proverb which says: “Mas vale ajuste malo que pleito bueno” — a bad settlement is better than a good lawsuit. And again: “Mas vale mala composicion que buen pleito” — a bad compromise is better than good litigation.
     
Google Books
The Lawyer and the Little Prince
By A. Joseph Tandet
Bloomington, IN: iUniverse
2008
Pg. ?:
I would convince my clients to settle by telling them “a bad settlement is better than a good trial.” Luckily for me this usually worked, even though it was a cliche.
 
Google Books
Legal Aspects of Doing Business in Latin America
By Dennis Campbell and Christian T. Campbell
Huntington, NY: Juris Pub.
2011
Pg. ?:
One common adage under Mexican law is ‘a bad settlement is better than a good litigation’. Different from other countries, settlements do not usually occur at the beginning of the litigation but rather during or after the litigation.
 
GoLocal (Providence, RI)
Moore: Elorza, Firefighters Must Reach Settlement on Platoon Shift
Monday, November 09, 2015
Russell J. Moore, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
(...)
Like the old saying, often repeated by RINPR’s Scott MacKay, goes, “A bad settlement is better than a good trial”.