Bribery and Extortion

Are settlements with a monetary payout legal bribery? Is it basically saying "I will give you this large sum of money in order to not hold me legally accountable." Or in other cases extortion "I will hold you legally accountable unless you pay me a bunch of money." Do you feel it gives the wealthy an unfair ability to avoid culpability, and essentially a "different set of laws" they have to follow?

Or is settling out of court preferable in that all parties actively agree to the outcome and eliminating settlements would needlessly burden an already over-burdened justice system?