Settle without recourse to law (5)
I believe the answer is:
squat
'settle' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for squat that I've seen before include "occupy room?" , "Stunted - crouch - unlawfully occupied building" , "house-sit?" , "building taken over" , "Refuse to move on" .)