Should we carry on or settle the dispute?
SettleIndex enables you to make the best decisions about whether, when and how to settle by combining professional experience with financial analysis and data.
The company is faced with an intractable dispute – how do we work out its value?
SettleIndex enables you and your external lawyers to create a logical map of the issues in your case and model the financial impact of potential outcomes. Using your lawyer’s judgment of how likely outcomes are to occur, we help you understand the value of the case.
How can we leverage learnings from previous disputes?
SettleIndex stores structured data on cases, which can be a valuable source of reference for future disputes and creating a range of insights – from how well lawyers are able to forecast settlement values to when is the optimum point to settle a dispute.
We want to settle the case but our lawyers think it’s too early?
SettleIndex enables you to create a clear cost/benefit analysis to help demonstrate whether carrying on the legal dispute or settling it is the best course.
My lawyers always send long documents, but what I really need are the numbers.
SettleIndex converts legal advice into figures, providing your Board with the clear financial reports they expect.
How can we get a predictable and comparable process for resolving disputes across law firms?
Routinely modelling cases in SettleIndex will give you a repeatable experience and a feeling of control. Our Case History feature allows you to quickly identify where cases are diverging from their planned path.
How can we be sure that our disputes lawyers are recommending the best course?
SettleIndex provides you with clear reports based on risk and data, enabling you to ensure that you company is following the right strategy.
My lawyers say it is better to rely on their long experience and ‘gut feel’.
SettleIndex still depends on the experience and gut feel of your lawyers to work out the value of cases; but in a transparent and auditable structure.
How can I get board authority for a settlement range ahead of a mediation?
SettleIndex enables you to create clear financial models based on the professional judgment of your lawyers, which can be used to obtain authority for settlement. We enable you to reflect how your opponent may be viewing the case, which helps identify reasonable settlement ranges between you and your Opponents.
My board has unrealistic expectations about what they are likely to recover from their claim.
Once a case is formatted into a financial model it becomes difficult to argue with the output. SettleIndex helps you manage expectations around potential recovery, risk and costs.
The cost to get this dispute settled is steadily increasing; this is terrible for my internal credibility?
Taking cases to trial is inherently risky and unpredictable, that is why most cases are settled. Lawyers tend to be both over optimistic at the outset of a dispute and also not to account mathematically for the downside risk. SettleIndex counters the trend for late bad surprises.
Our JV partners/insurance carriers have unrealistic expectations about how we can get this dispute settled.
Using SettleIndex from the outset focusses everyone on a shared model of how the case might go and enables constructive collaboration on solving the dispute.external