It makes defendant companies seem uniformly guilty when they very well might not be, and contributes to public suspicion, which I’m sure you will agree isn’t helpful.

As you say, discovery can take years, and frequently out-of-court settlements with nondisclosure terms are the result, adding to the industry’s stigma in society.

If you were as clever at prudent disclosures as you are at reserving your defenses, you could get some of your story out while the news is hot without arming your adversaries with free ammunition. It just takes will to do so, to find a way. Unfortunately, eons of conservative nondisclosure has created an easier course, and most companies simply follow it, without innovating ways of satisfying their markets’ need for reassurance and continuing confidence after a suit is filed,