Backchannel leverages technology to remove the biggest barriers to resolving cases—and Backchannel lets you do it at a fraction of the cost of traditional negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution methods.
Here’s how it works:
At its core, Backchannel uses a secure system to allow parties to input confidential offers and demands. The beauty of Backchannel is that no one—not the other side, not the mediator, and not the court—knows your offer or demand. Unless, of course, the numbers match, and you have a deal. This means that you get a virtually risk-free chance to resolve a dispute.
How Does Backchannel Work?
Backchannel leverages technology to remove the biggest barriers to resolving cases – and Backchannel lets you do it at a fraction of the cost of traditional negotiation and Alternative Dispute Resolution methods.
1CHOOSE THE TERMS
We suggest that the parties come to an agreement on non-monetary terms or create a Memorandum of Understanding (an MOU).
You can move past this step without a terms sheet and go right to numbers if you want to iron out the details later.
2MAKE AN OFFER
Each party has 48 hours to submit a confidential offer or demand. Backchannel will check the offers and demands for a match or an overlap. If there is a match or overlap, congratulations! You have a deal.
If there is no match or overlap, Backchannel proceeds to Step 2.
3FINALIZE DEAL
The parties have 28 days to adjust their numbers, confidentially, to try to reach an acceptable deal. You don’t have to adjust your numbers if you don’t want to. You are in total control.
When a match is made the session ends immediately and the deal amount and terms are sent to the parties.
If there is still no deal at the end of the 28-day period, the session ends.
With Backchannel, you can avoid all the bluster, the wasted time, the nonsense offers and demands designed to “send a message,” and the expense from a day of mediation. Instead, you can confidently and securely see if a deal can be reached with no risk to your settlement position.
Parties using Backchannel do not risk being punished for being reasonable—something common in traditional negotiations and mediations. In fact, through Backchannel’s multi-phase, guided process, the most reasonable party is rewarded.
Skip the rituals and the posturing. Backchannel instead.
Backchannel’s process has three steps:
Step 1: Choose what you are negotiating.
Before you start the Backchannel offer/demand process, you need to determine what you are negotiating (in other words, the non-monetary terms of a deal). We suggest that the parties come to an agreement on non-monetary terms or create a Memorandum of Understanding (an MOU). If you do, and a deal is reached, this will help outline the terms.
We understand, however, that litigators often want to negotiate a number first and then iron out the details later. That’s fine. You can move past this step without a terms sheet and go right to numbers.
Step 2: Make initial, confidential offers and demands.
In Step 2, each party has 48 hours to submit a confidential offer or demand to Backchannel. You can do this at any point during the 48-hour period.
Once both parties have submitted an offer or demand, Backchannel will check for a match or overlap. If there is a match or overlap, congratulations! You have a deal.
Note: Overlaps are NOT handled with a “meet-in-the-middle” number because doing so would reveal each side’s bottom or top lines. Instead, overlaps are handled through selecting a random number within the overlap, thus further protecting your confidential settlement position. That number is then rounded, according to Backchannel’s internal, neutral rounding rules.
If there is no match or overlap, Backchannel proceeds to Step 3.
Step 3: Adjust confidential offers and demands.
If Backchannel proceeds to Step 3, you now know that there is not a match in your initial numbers. From here, you can adjust—again, secretly and securely—your settlement numbers. The parties have 28 days to adjust their numbers as often as they like to try to reach a deal. You don’t have to adjust your numbers if you don’t want to. You are in total control.
This is a good chance for the parties to exchange additional settlement information outside of Backchannel, if they believe it would be helpful.
Step 3 contains an important incentive. The first party to reach the settlement number will receive a 5% bonus on their number. In other words, defendants will pay less or plaintiffs will get more if they are the party to be the first to submit to the dealmaking number. This rewards parties for being reasonable.
In Step 3, the moment a match is made, the session ends immediately and the deal amount (along with any terms you agreed to previously) is sent to the parties. If there is still no deal at the end of the 28-day period, the session ends.
Backchannel is perfect to use throughout a case.
Traditional negotiations and mediations are expensive in terms of you and your client’s time, money, and mental energy. And, by engaging in those discussions, you risk weakening your settlement position. Because of this, litigators are hesitant to start settlement discussions and can miss out on settlement opportunities.
Backchannel is designed differently. Backchannel gives you and your clients the best chance of reaching a deal without sacrificing any of your settlement or litigation position. And, unlike other forms of negotiation or ADR, it is low-cost, not only in terms of raw expenses but also in terms of attorney time, mental energy, and your client’s time. This means that Backchannel is the perfect tool to use throughout a case.
Gone are the days when you hesitate to start settlement discussions. You can use Backchannel at any point in the case and, if a deal isn’t reached now, use it at a later point in the case. You have little to lose.
Give it a try today. After you use Backchannel, we bet you will wonder how you practiced law without it.