The risk of creating a bad precedentSome litigants — particularly businesses — should consider whether or not they want to create a binding precedent in the disputed area of the law. Trial court decisions are not binding on other courts. Once a case goes to appeal, however, a legal precedent may be set that will be binding on trial courts faced with the same issue in the future. (Not all appeals do result in binding precedents — this depends on whether the Court of Appeal decides to “publish” its decision. A large majority are not “published.”)
I feel this is a hard call. If they go ahead and pay, they may have more victims bring suit against them. If they appeal and lose, they may set a legal precedent "that will be binding on trail courts faced with the same issue in the future" as stated above. With the high profile child abuse cases that have been in the news in the last few days, the Court of Appeals may decide to "publish" it's decison should the WTS lose, therefor assuring a binding precedent. This could cost the WTS as much as a billion dollars depending on the amount of victims out there in the r/f willing to sue.