Dominique Strauss-Kahn just got one big step closer to not having any outstanding legal problems Thursday evening. He finally settled things with the maid from the Sofitel hotel.

Yes, DSK reached a settlement with Nafissatou Diallo to bring an end to the civil lawsuit she had outstanding against him. It was one of the final legal problems Strauss-Kahn was facing after the roughly year and half period that saw him go from being a leading candidate for the French Presidency to being a disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund. This will also probably put an end to the counter suit he had ready to go against Diallo, we assume. 

Of course, we'll probably never going to hear how much he had to pay to make this thing finally go away. The deal, which is not signed right now but is expected to be finalized in court next week, will probably be sealed by a confidentiality agreement. 

Strauss-Kahn was supposed to hear about the fate of another of his pending case's yesterday: those ugly aggravated pimping charges related to his "libertine" sex parties in France. A judge ruled to push his decision on whether to drop the charges back to December 19, leaving Strauss-Kahn in a horribly precarious position right before Christmas. If they're dropped, he's a free man. That's it. If not, well... 

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