NYC Starts Online Settlement Experiment
Personal injury claimants can now attempt to settle disputes with New York City through an experimental online settlement system According to an article in the current Crains NY, “the city comptroller’s office has launched a two-year pilot of a computerized settlement system operated by Cybersettle Inc., which allows parties to submit offers and demands online.“ Only the settlement administrators see the offers, and “Settlements are reached if the demand and offer amounts overlap.” CrainsNY.com, City pilots online settlement system, via Law.Com Daily Newswire (02-03-04).
- This sounds like a very promising experiment. Naturally, e&h wonders whether fees will be adjusted downward to reflect the expedited process.
- Postscript (02-04-04): MyShingle’s Carolyn Elefant has posted on this topic at eLawyerBlog, opining that it would be unethical for plaintiff’s lawyer not to take the expedited procedure into account when arranging for or charging a contingency fee. What’s striking is that there are so many lawyers who would disagree.
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