The company I work for has just settled a lawsuit and has to pay out some money. How would I record this on the books? Would it be a balance sheet account and what type? Thanks!

First, are there any existing amounts that relate to the lawsuit? For example, if the company had reason to believe they were going to lose they should have set up a contingency loss. If they did this, there would have been a payable for that amount. If they didn't, are there any amounts in Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable that are related to the case? If no to all of the above, you will debit some type of lawsuit expense (you might need to create a new account) and credit cash (or a liability for the lawsuit if you aren't paying it now).