Not a payout for damaged goods or a count of property on hand. In mass-tort and group litigation, an inventory settlement is a deal that resolves a lawyer's or law firm's whole inventory of similar cases against a defendant, usually in one package instead of one claim at a time.

The "inventory" is the firm's stack of clients with the same kind of alleged injury, product exposure, or accident pattern. The settlement may set payment tiers, medical criteria, proof requirements, and deadlines for clients to join. It is often negotiated alongside a broader mass tort, multidistrict litigation, or coordinated state-court proceeding, but it is not the same as a class action settlement. Each client still usually has an individual claim and may need to sign a separate release.

Practically, this kind of settlement can move cases faster and create more predictable results. For injured people, that can mean less waiting and fewer surprises about what evidence is needed. It can also mean pressure: if the deal uses strict injury levels or filing deadlines, someone with weaker records may receive less or be left out.

For a Texas claim, an inventory settlement does not override basic Texas deadlines like the two-year statute of limitations for most personal injury cases under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. Missing that deadline can kill a claim before any group settlement offer matters.