For plaintiff attorneys
Test the number without giving it away.
Your client's floor is the one figure you cannot put in a demand letter. Here you enter it, the other side never sees it, and you find out whether their authority already reaches it.
Why a range
A demand is a position. A range is the truth.
You already hold three numbers for most files: the figure you would take today, the figure you would call a good day's work, and the figure you would take to trial for. A demand letter can only carry the last one, which is why the first round of any negotiation is spent discounting it.
Anchoring works both ways, and you know it.
Naming a number first tells the other side where your thinking sits, and every figure you name afterwards is read against it. Submitting Acceptable, Good and Ideal privately means the range does its work without ever becoming an anchor.
Your floor is never disclosed.
The three amounts you submit are not shown to the other participants at any point. If the ranges do not overlap, the settlement closes and your figures stay where you put them — the other side learns that there was no overlap, and nothing else.
It costs less than the call it replaces.
$19.99, once, for the settlement. If your client is on a contingency, nothing comes out of the recovery: the fee does not scale with the amount and is not deducted from it.
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What actually happens
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Start a settlement
The host enters a title and a description of the matter.
Whoever starts the settlement becomes its host. The title and description are what both sides see on the settlement page; they are not used in any calculation.
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Pay for the settlement
One payment of $19.99, made by the host.
Payment is taken once per settlement, through Stripe, before invitations are sent. The host pays it; participants who are invited pay nothing. Until the payment completes the settlement sits at Awaiting payment and no invitation goes out.
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Invite the other side
Each participant gets an emailed link.
The invitation link opens the settlement directly. Someone who already has an account logs in; someone who does not registers from the same link. An invitation can also be declined, which ends that person's involvement.
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Each side submits three amounts
Acceptable, Good and Ideal — a range, not a single number.
Acceptable is the least favourable figure you would still agree to. Ideal is the most favourable. Good sits between them. Neither side sees the other's numbers at any point, including after the settlement resolves.
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The amounts are compared
The comparison runs once the last invited participant has responded.
The two sides' ranges are compared for overlap. If they overlap and each side has one of its three figures inside that overlap, the settlement resolves to an amount within it. If they do not overlap, the settlement completes without an amount.
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See the result
Both sides see the same outcome on the settlement page.
A settlement that resolved shows the amount, and — where there is more than one paying party — how it is apportioned between them. A settlement that did not resolve shows that it did not, and no figures from either side.
Questions from the plaintiff side
Can the other side see my amounts?
No. The three figures you submit are never shown to the other participants, before or after the comparison runs.
What happens if we don't reach an amount?
The settlement completes and is marked as not settled. Neither side's figures are revealed, and the payment is not refunded.
Can I cancel a settlement?
Yes, up until it completes. Cancelling notifies the other participants and closes the settlement. It does not issue a refund.
Can I change my amounts after submitting them?
Not from this screen. Contact support before the last participant responds, because the comparison runs as soon as everyone has.
The other side hasn't responded. What now?
The settlement stays open until they do. You can resend the invitation from the settlement page, or cancel the settlement.
How is the amount worked out when more than one party is paying?
The paying parties' figures are added together and compared as one range. The resulting amount is then split between them in proportion to what each contributed to that total.