A guide to visual blind bidding to speed up resolving disputes over money

1. www.ODRtraining.com
training in ODR since 2007
And so….
• New build of Liteko 2 started 2014
• To be completed 2
Smartsettle ONE
Visual Blind Bidding
A demonstration for
ODR AFRICA NETWORK
by Graham Ross
24th September 2020
• 0

2. “Zoom …….
Just One Look and my Heart Went Boom!”
Fat Larry’s 1980s hit seems to have been taken to
heart by mediators who, after “just one look” have
fallen rapidly in love with the Zoom video
conferencing platform.
Just as falling in love on first looks can often
deceive, mediators need to understand that ODR
is a lot more than video conferencing.
CLICK ONCE FOR A MUSICAL BREAK AND TWICE TO MOVE ON.

4. www.ODRtraining.com
training in ODR since 2007
18 months of negotiation
3 months in the online civil money court
Failed small claims telephone mediation
1 hour of visual blind bidding ODR

5. www.ODRtraining.com
training in ODR since 2007
And so….
• New build of Liteko 2 started 2014
• To be completed 2022
 Smartsettle ONE is a stand alone SaaS that can
be used together with any system of ADR/ODR
including telephone, in person mediation, online
negotiations (through CREK,MODRON, RDO
etc) and video conferencing.
 No settlement is declared unless in a figure
within the specified bidding of each party.
 No fee to use - only if settles
 Constantly ‘nudges’ to speed up settlement
Key Takeaways

6. Scenario
Ed*, a trainer in counselling, and following the
completion of a training course is claiming
£2,000 in unpaid fees from Dan*.
* Neither party’s real names have been used
Despite going through telephone mediation,
they had failed to settle the dispute and the
case proceeded. This small claim continued in
the court for three months.
Ed filed a claim in the UK’s new Civil Money
Claim online process which was in its public
beta phase.

7. WHEREAS: The claimant, is claiming a sum of £2,000 in
settlement for the payment of training in counselling services
provided to the defendant.
THEREFORE: The defendant agrees to pay the claimant a
settlement of .
This agreement is subject to the ….................................
(Conditions for Settlement)
Single Negotiating Framework
(Draft Agreement)
{ illustrative wording }
between £0 - £2,000
[amount filled in automatically on
reaching settlement]
left blank--
.

8. 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Opening Session
Ed’s View
.End of Opening Session
No Agreement
.
Visible
Demand
Secret
Demand
Secret
Offer
Visible
Offer
Gap
Not visible
to Ed
EdDan

9. Second Session
Ed’s’s View
.
.
Dan
Ed’s
Visible
Demand
Ed’s Secret
Offer
Dan’s
Secret offer
Visible
offer
gap
Not visible
to Ed
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Ed
End of Second Session
No Agreement

10. Third Session
Ed’s’s View
.
.
Ed’s
Visible
Demand
Ed’s Final
Secret Offer
Dan’s
Secret offer
Visible
offer
Ed
overlap
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Dan Ed

11. Resolving the Overlap
Split the difference ?
‘Split the difference’ rewards the party that holds back
.
.
Overlap £300
1200 1300 1400 1500 1600Dan Ed

12. 1400
Reward Early Effort
.
Ed’s last
move £200
Dan’s last
move £400
Rewarding Early Effort
Ed had entered the Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA), the overlap, before Dan (a greater early effort).
Ed is rewarded for the early move by dividing the overlap in the ratio 1:2 (the ratio of the final moves) and
he receives the greater proportion of the overlap.
The Agreement is better than both their bottom lines
Dan holding back
.
Ed’s early effort
£300 Overlap
(ZOPA)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000Dan
Ed

13. WHEREAS: The claimant, is claiming a sum of £2,000 in
settlement for the payment of training in counselling services
provided to the defendant.
THEREFORE: The defendant agrees to pay the claimant a
settlement of .
This agreement is subject to the ….................................
(Conditions for Settlement)
Final Agreement
.
£1,400
On agreement, the final
document is generated and a pdf
copy is available to both parties.
This final agreement may be
digitally certified

14. Final Secret Offer
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Final Secret Demand
Extended bids
from parties added
Resolving a Small Gap Impasse
(an imagined scenario)
In this imagined case there would be no
agreement at the end of the final session.
However, both parties have independently
chosen to apply the ‘Automatic Deal Closer’
and extend their last secret bids by £200.

15. Automatic Deal-Closer
(resolving small gap impasse)
Whenever a bid is made, the system gives the option to indicate in secret a small
increase in the bid to be applied if it results in a settlement. Smartsettle will simply
divide it using ‘Reward Early Effort’.
Hundred GBP

16. Final Secret Offer
Final Secret
Demand
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Reward Early Effort determines a settlement
of £1,200. Both parties have extended their
bids to cover this outcome. Settlement is
confirmed at £1,200.
1200
Resolving a Small Gap Impasse
(an imagined scenario)

17. On this screen the system allows the parties to set all their bids for each of the
sessions at the outset, thus automating their bidding. This may be useful for
organisations defending a large volume of similar claims (eg Covid related) and to
enable a team leader to guide less experienced case handlers as well as speed up
negotiations.

18. Chat Facility in Mediated Disputes
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000Dan Ed
Private
Mediator and Dan
Between Mediator and
All
Private
Mediator and Ed
SEND MESSAGE
Your message Your messageYour message
SEND MESSAGE SEND MESSAGE
No messages …. No messages …. No messages ….
the amount the defendant will pay the claimant (GBP)
chat boxes
expandable

19. www.ODRtraining.com
training in ODR since 2007
If case settles – 2% of the negotiating range
If case does not settle – ZERO
Fee

20. www.ODRtraining.com
training in ODR since 2007
Infinity
 For multi issue/multi party disputes
 Learns priorities of each party per issue
 Encourages parties to focus on packages of proposals rather than rights
and wrongs of the dispute
 Infinity offers anonymous suggestions
 No package declared unless all parties agreed
 Once agreement reached, Infinity looks for value left on the table tp
improve package

21. Infinity – for multiple issue cases

22. www.ODRtraining.com

23. www.ODRtraining.com
training in ODR since 2007
And so….
• New build of Liteko 2 started 2014
• To be completed 2
Smartsettle ONE
Visual Blind Bidding
A demonstration for
ODR AFRICA NETWORK
by Graham Ross
24th September 2020
• 0