Speed and Justice for All ®
All scheduling is done within the application
Parties negotiate using the highly-effective SettleTek methodology
If a settlement is not reached during eResolution, a SettleTek mediator joins to guide the parties through to resolution
About NAM
SettleTek is wholly-owned by NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation). NAM is a full-service provider of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services – supporting clients throughout the U.S. and in major cities around the world through a highly secure suite of onsite, virtual and hybrid forums. NAM is recognized for its superb customer service, market-leading technology, and an exceptional panel of arbitrators and mediators with deep experience across a wide range of practice areas. Throughout NAM's 30+ year history, the company has consistently earned prominent awards and recognitions. NAM ranks at the top of the ADR and Continuing Legal Education categories in numerous industry rankings, including the most recent surveys by the National Law Journal, New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel – a testament to the depth and breadth of knowledge, information and thought leadership provided by NAM to the ADR community at large. NAM works with more than 10,000 commercial entities, including virtually all major insurance carriers that utilize ADR, leading law firms (both plaintiff and defense firms) and more than 50 percent of the Fortune 100. For more information, visit www.namadr.com.
Privacy and Cookie Policy
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 19, 2021
I. General Information
At National Arbitration and Mediation, LLC (“NAM”, “we”, “us” or “our”), we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring you have a positive experience on our website (“ www.namadr.com”), when using the site, our arbitration and mediation services through our portal (“myadr.namadr.com”), our arbitration services for New York State Paid Family Leave disputes through our portal (“nyspfla.namadr.com”) and/or our SettleTek service (www.SettleTek.com) (“SettleTek”). The following policy dictates how and why we collect, use, retain, and share personally identifiable data (“Personal Data”, “information” or “PII”) provided to us affirmatively by users, automatically via service usage, and/or via third parties. This policy applies to all geographies where NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) conducts business, including where you may have additional rights surrounding the usage of your personal information. This policy will be posted on our website and may be updated occasionally for reasons such as operational or business practices or regulatory changes. Any policy updates take effect immediately upon posting.
Please note that, before using some of our services (SettleTek, for example), you may be asked to enter into a binding legal agreement by clicking the “agree” button in the applicable terms and conditions (each, a “User Agreement”), which may give us rights in or to use your information that are broader and/or different than the terms of this policy. To the extent the terms of any such User Agreement conflict with the terms of this policy, the terms of such User Agreement will prevail.
II. Collection of your Personal Data
Throughout this policy, “Personally Identifiable Data” will be defined as information which can be reasonably linked to a specific person. NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) may collect the following types of personal data when you interact with our website and/or portals. This information may be collected directly from users about themselves or others, or on an automated basis.
- Common identifiers such as name, username, physical address, email address, phone numbers, and the like;
- Information about your job, such as your title and employer;
- Billing data, including credit/debit card or other payment information;
- Publicly available data from you;
- Social media profile information;
- Service preferences;
- Information about your device, network, and internet connection, such as your Internet Protocol (“IP”) address(es), Internet Service Provider (“ISP”), MAC address, other device ID (UDID), device type, operating system and browser type and version and date/time stamp, and client version;
- Information about your usage of or other interaction with our services and website (“Usage Information”);
- Other information you upload, provide, or create while using NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s services.
In certain instances, you may choose whether or not to provide personal data to NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation). However, it may restrict accessibility to certain options and services on our platforms. You can adjust certain settings to reduce the amount of Personal Data we automatically collect from you by updating cookie preferences in your browser’s setting.
We may also collect and share some personal data from and with third-party partners and service providers. Agreements with our service providers limit what may be done with the data collected on our behalf. We may also receive personal data that third parties collect in other contexts, which we use in order to better understand our users, advertise and market, and enhance our services. For more information, see the section titled Sale of Personal Data.
Customer Content
Customer Content is information provided by the customer to NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) through the usage of services. This information includes, but is not limited to, cloud recordings of webinars, files, whiteboards, and other information shared while using NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s services. Customer Content does not refer to data generated by NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s network and systems (i.e., routing information and other meeting metadata).
Regarding passive collection, including the use of cookies
NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation), our third-party service providers, and advertising partners (e.g., Google Ads and Google Analytics) automatically collect some information about you when you use our services, using methods such as cookies and tracking technologies (further described below). Information automatically collected includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referrer URL, exit pages, the files viewed on our site (e.g., HTML pages, graphics, etc.), operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data. We use this information to offer and improve our services, trouble shoot, and to improve our marketing efforts.
Passive collection involves using cookies or similar technologies to analyze trends, administer the website, track users’ movements around the website, and gather information about our user base, such as location information at the city level (which we derive from IP addresses). Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level and through the “Cookie Preferences” link on our homepage. We will also make reasonable efforts to ensure that we do not use our services to collect information when you visit websites offered by companies other than NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation). We use various technologies to collect information which may include saving cookies to your computers. For more information regarding cookie policies of technologies that we leverage, please review the privacy policy forGoogle,Zoom, Bluejeans, Cisco WebEx , Skype, and Live Chat .
Regarding meeting recordings
If you participate in a webinar, we collect Personal Data from you in connection with and through such recordings. Meeting hosts are responsible for notifying you if they are recording a meeting, and you will generally hear a notice or see an on-screen notification when recording is in progress.
III. Use and Disclosure of Personal Data
We may use the personal data we collect for a range of business purposes such as to:
Manage and improve the use of our website, portals and services;
o
Enable meetings and webinars between hosts, users and client
participants;
- Fulfill
requests you make related to our services;
o
Protect, investigate and deter against fraudulent, harmful,
unauthorized or illegal activity to the website, portals and services;
o
Respond to inquiries and requests and to provide you with
information and access to resources that you have requested;
o
Aggregate and analyze your use of the website, our portals and our
services for trend monitoring purposes;
o
Provide reports to users based on information collected from use
of our services;
- Provide
support and assistance for our services;
o
Provide the ability to create personal profile areas and view
protected content;
o
Provide the ability to perform billing activities when using our
services;
- Provide
customer feedback and support;
o
Complying with our contractual and legal obligations and enforcing
our agreements
We process your Personal Data (i) with your consent (where necessary), (ii) for the performance of any contract you have with us (such as your agreement with us that allows us to provide you with our services), and (iii) for other legitimate interests and business purposes in a manner reasonably proportionate to providing, running, personalizing, improving, operating, maintaining our services.
Some of this information may be shared with other meeting/webinar participants, as appropriate. For example, all messages and content you share in a meeting/webinar, including personal data about you or others, will be available to all other participants in that meeting/webinar. If you share a meeting/webinar link with another user who is not already in the meeting/webinar, when that user tries to join the meeting he or she will be able to see the list of other users in the meeting/webinar, as well as other invitees joining the meeting/webinar.
Importantly, much of the Personal data we collect, we collect on behalf of our customers and do not claim ownership or control over the data collected.
In addition to the aforementioned, we may use identifiers, employment information, payment information, Social Media profile information, technical information, demographic information, usage information, and user-generated information:
- To provide customer feedback and support ( https://www.namadr.com/about/contact-us/ );
- Providing you with information and offers from us;
- To the extent you choose to participate, to conduct questionnaires and surveys in order to provide better services to our customers and end users;
- To support recruitment inquiries ( https://www.namadr.com/about/careers/ );
- To personalize marketing communications and website content based on your preferences, such as in response to your request for specific information concerning services that may be of interest;
- To comply with legal or billing obligations;
- To optimize connection and quality of technical connectivity to our services
Users can sign-up to receive email or newsletter communications from us. If you would like to discontinue receiving these communications, you can update your preferences by using the “Unsubscribe” link found in such emails, by emailing customerservice@namadr.com , or by calling us directly.
Sale of Personal Data
NAM does not rent or sell Personal Data about you. As previously mentioned, we may share and disclose Personal Data that we collect with third parties, solely for legitimate business or legal purposes and in accordance with applicable law. Categories of third parties with whom Personal Data may be shared include
Third-Party Category | Description/Purpose |
Email service provider | To send emails to our customers |
Payment processors | To process payments via credit cards or checks |
Accounting vendors | To perform accounting and tax related activities |
Translators | To translate documentation so we can process your request and provide services |
Website vendor | To support the configuration of the website for enabling cookies to collect information concerning our visitors |
Shredding vendors | To securely destroy information or data that no longer needs to be retained by NAM |
Storage vendors | To store information related to NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s business and customers required to be retained for business and legal purposes |
Video conferencing solutions | To support our business process for enabling webinars and conferencing solutions by collecting information concerning meeting participants and by recording webinars. |
NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) uses certain standard advertising tools to help us improve your advertising experience which may fall within the extremely broad definition of the “sale” of Personal Data under certain state laws because those companies might use Personal Data for their own business purposes, as well as NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s purposes. For example, Google may use this data to improve its advertising services for all companies who use their services. (It is important to note advertising programs have historically operated in this manner. It is only with recent developments in data privacy laws that such activities fall within the definition of a “sale”). If you opt out of the “sale” of your info, your Personal Data that may have been used for these activities will no longer be shared with third parties.
Data Retention
How long we retain your personal data depends on the type of data and the purpose for which we process the data. We will retain your Personal Information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice unless a longer retention period is required by law, for legal, tax or regulatory reasons, or for other legitimate and lawful business purposes.
Security of your Personal Data
NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) is committed to protecting the personal data you share with us through our website, portals and services. We utilize a combination of security technologies, procedures, and organizational measures to help protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. When we transfer credit card information over the Internet, we protect it using Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption technology.
Please note that no website is completely secure and so, while we endeavor to protect our customers' data using the measures described above, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss or a data breach will not occur. If you have any questions about the security of your personal data, you can contact us at customerservice@namadr.com .
Linked Websites and Third-Party Services
Our websites, portals and services may provide links to other third-party websites and services which are outside our control and not covered by this policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies posted on these (and all) sites you visit or services you use.
The inclusion of a link does not imply our endorsement of the linked site or service. You should check the privacy notices of those sites before providing your personal information to them.
IV. Data Subject Rights
We do our best to give you reasonable control over the personal data we process about you. Depending on where you reside, you may be entitled to certain legal rights with respect to your personal data including, where applicable:
- Access: Requesting information about and access to personal data we hold about you, with a twelve-month lookback window. This includes the reasons we collected the data and with whom we have shared the data.
- Rectification: Requesting that we correct or supplement such data about you that is incorrect or incomplete.
- Objection: Contacting us to let us know that you object to the collection or use of your personal data for certain purposes. If you believe NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) may have collected or stored personal information from you on behalf of a NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) customer, please contact the NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) customer with any requests related to your personal information.
- Opt Out of “Sales”: Electing to have us opt you out of certain advertising practices related to your personal data. NAM does not exchange your personal data with third parties for payment, even if you do not opt-out of the “sale” of information. If you opt-out, we will adjust your preferences accordingly.
- Erasure: Requesting that we erase some or all of your personal data from our systems.
- Restriction of Processing: Asking us to restrict further processing of your personal data.
- Portability: Requesting a copy of your personal data in a machine-readable format or that we transmit the data to another entity where technically feasible.
- Withdrawal of Consent: Withdrawing consent at any time where we are processing your personal data based on your consent (as indicated at the time of collection of such data).
- Right to File Complaint: Lodging a complaint about NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s practices with respect to your personal data with the supervisory authority of your country or EU Member State.
Should you reside in a jurisdiction which grants you these rights, we will, to the best of our ability, respond to any requests made. This potentially may include supplying a yearly accounting of information identifying each third-party company to whom we may have disclosed, within the past year, personal information pertaining to you for our direct marketing purposes, and a description of the categories of personal information disclosed. Under certain circumstances, we will not be able to fulfill your request, such as if it interferes with our regulatory obligations, affects legal matters including a NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) user’s rights to data, if we cannot verify your identity, or if it involves disproportionate cost or effort. In any event, we will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and provide you with an explanation.
In order to make such a request of us or have your designated agent do so, please contact our Privacy Team at customerservice@namadr.com or by writing to the following address:
NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)Attention: Director of Information Technology
990 Stewart Avenue
Garden City, NY 11530
Children’s Privacy
NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) does not provide products or services that are designed for use by children under the age of 13, or knowingly collect Personal Data from or about children under the age of 13. If you believe that a child under the age of 16 has disclosed personal information to NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation), please contact customerservice@namadr.com .
Contact Us
If you have any privacy-related questions or comments related to this privacy policy, please send an email to customerservice@namadr.com. You can also contact us by writing to this address:
NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)
Attention: Director of Information Technology
990 Stewart Avenue
Garden City, NY 11530
Terms of Use
SettleTek Terms and Conditions
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BY WHICH NAME(NATIONAL ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION) OFFERS YOU ACCESS TO ITS SETTLETEK SERVICE (“SettleTek”).
BY CONTINUING TO USE THIS WEBSITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. NAM(NATIONAL ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION) MAY AMEND THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT ANY TIME BY POSTING THE AMENDED TERMS ON THE SETTLETEK WEBSITE.
1.0 Eligibility for Participation
You must be at least 18 years of age to participate in a negotiation using SettleTek and are able to enter into a legally binding contract under applicable law.
2.0 User Information
2.1 "User Information" is defined as any and all information you (the “User”) provide during the registration and negotiation process. Users agree to provide true and accurate information that complies with this Section 2.1 on the SettleTek website and to maintain and update information as applicable. User information a) shall not be false, inaccurate or misleading; b) shall not be fraudulent; c) shall not violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation; d) shall not contain any viruses, Trojan Horses, worms, time bombs or other programming routines that are intended to damage, interfere with, intercept or expropriate any system, data or information; e) shall not access, index, frame or link to any SettleTek technology, services or websites (including by removing, disabling, bypassing, or circumventing any content protection or access control mechanisms); f) shall not access any SettleTek technology through any automated means, including "robots," "spiders," or "offline readers; and g) shall not access, or attempt to access, the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of SettleTek or another entity's computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption or loss of data.
2.2 Users are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their passwords. Users are solely responsible for any and all activities occurring with their accounts. Users agree to immediately notify SettleTek of any unauthorized use of their accounts or any breach of security.
3.0 The "Negotiation Process"
The "Negotiation Process" is the process by which the parties exchange bids in an attempt to settle a matter with a maximum claim amount of $100,000. The Negotiation Process may consist of 2 parts: An eResolution process and a Mediator process (if the eResolution process does not result in settlement).
4.0 Mutual Consent
4.1 Users acknowledge and agree that they are entering into the Negotiation Process voluntarily and consent to be legally bound by all of the terms, conditions and provisions set forth herein.
4.2 Users further agree and acknowledge that their participation in the Negotiation Process and the successful resolution of any claim submitted through SettleTek will result in a valid legal contract between the Users which will constitute the full and complete understanding of the parties and may not be changed, revised or altered absent mutual consent in writing between the Users and NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation).
5.0 Binding Settlement
Users agree to be legally bound by any settlement reached through SettleTek at the conclusion of the Negotiation Process. This means that if you agree to pay the other party a set amount of money in accordance with the settlement criteria detailed herein, you are legally required to do so. Similarly, if you agree to accept a set amount of money in accordance with the settlement criteria detailed herein, you are legally required to do so.
6.0 The Parties
The party seeking to be compensated will be referred to as the "Claimant/Plaintiff." The party who will be responsible for making the payment will be referred to as the "Respondent/Defendant."
7.0 Indemnity
7.1 Each User, including each party, counsel and/or representative acting on behalf of any party, hereby agrees (i) to waive any claim or cause of action against the Mediator (hereinafter, “Hearing Officer”) and NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation), its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, and its and their officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, “NAM Parties”) and (ii) to release the NAM Parties and/or the Hearing Officer(s) from any and all liability including but not limited to, any liability arising from or relating to any act or omission on the part of any Hearing Officer retained by the NAM Parties. You further acknowledge and agree that the NAM Parties and Hearing Officer(s) are not responsible for, or in any way a guarantor of, any financial obligations of any User, including payment and/or collection of any moneys owed by settlement through the service or otherwise.
7.2 Each User, including each party, counsel and/or representative acting on behalf of any party, agrees: (a) that none of the NAM Parties or Hearing Officer(s) are a necessary party in any further alternative dispute resolution or judicial proceeding and may not be called to testify at any subsequent proceeding; (b) it will not compel any of the NAM Parties or Hearing Officer(s) to testify or produce any documents provided by any of the parties to any of the NAM Parties or their Hearing Officers; and (c) to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the NAM Parties and/or Hearing Officer(s) for any claims of injuries, damages or losses arising out of or related to inaccurate, incorrect, false or fraudulent User Information or other case materials input by any of the Users or any third parties.
8.0 Private and Confidential Communications
8.1 Each User, including each party, counsel and/or representative acting on behalf of any party, agree that all information provided and communications made during the course of the online negotiation or subsequent communications with Hearing Officers (whether oral or in writing), and any settlement offers conveyed, are privileged settlement discussions, are made without prejudice to any party’s legal position, and are inadmissible for any purpose in any legal or administrative proceeding. Any information disclosed by a party, or by an agent or representative of a party, or by a witness on behalf of a party, is confidential. The NAM Parties and Hearing Officer(s) will not disclose any confidential information during the mediation without the consent of the party providing the confidential information. The parties agree that they will not seek to compel any of the NAM Parties or Hearing Officers to disclose any such confidential information in any legal or administrative proceeding or otherwise. The parties further agree that they may not introduce into evidence any such confidential information disclosed in violation hereof, nor may they introduce into evidence, or use for any purpose, any written or oral testimony of the Hearing Officer or the employees of any of the NAM Parties. Any party that violates the confidentiality and related terms of this Article 8 will pay all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, of the NAM Parties and Hearing Officer(s) incurred in opposing the efforts to compel confidential information from the NAM Parties and/or Hearing Officer(s).
8.2 SettleTek and the other services provided by the NAM Parties and Hearing Officer(s) shall not be construed as an offer to represent you, and are not intended to create, nor do they create, an attorney-client relationship. Parties seeking legal advice in connection with resolving disputes pursuant to the process outlined herein should consult with an attorney of their choice.
8.3 You acknowledge that your use of SettleTek and its underlying technology will generate operational, outcome and performance data, including (i) generalized service delivery statistics, (ii) key performance indicator data, (iii) information and statistics regarding settlement trends and situational outcomes, including searchable analytics NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) may make available to other NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) customers generally, and (iv) data indicating future improvements, adjustments and increased efficiency of SettleTek and NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s other products and services (collectively, “SettleTek Performance and Outcome Data”). You hereby acknowledge and expressly authorize SettleTek to copy, display, perform, distribute, create derivative works of and otherwise use such SettleTek Performance and Outcome Data, in aggregate and de-identified form, for the purpose of improving and enhancing SettleTek and NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation)’s other products and services, creating new product offerings and all other lawful business purposes.
9.0 Fees
9.1. The parties agree to be bound by the Fee Schedule in effect on SettleTek.com at the time a case is created.
9.2 The parties are required to pay all fees to NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation) when prompted by the SettleTek online portal in order to continue with the process or when billed, if a corporate account is set up and approved by NAM.
9.3 Users accept responsibility for payment of all SettleTek fees pertaining to the matter being negotiated regardless of the outcome of the case.
9.4 All SettleTek fees are payable in US Dollars via credit card or corporate check/ACH transfer if a corporate account is set up and approved by SettleTek.
10.0 Third Party Representation
If you are acting as an agent or representative for a third party in the Negotiation Process, you hereby warrant and represent that you have the legal authority to represent said party and enter into a legal contract on their behalf.
11.0 Disclaimers; Limits on Liability
11.1 SETTLETEK IS PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN ‘AS IS’ AND ‘AS AVAILABLE’ BASIS. NAM GIVES NO WARRANTY, GUARANTEE OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, AT LAW OR IN EQUITY AND WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, LOSS OF DATA, ACCURACY OF RESULTS OR REPORTS (INCLUDING WITH RESPECT TO ANY DATA EXTRACTION OR PROCESSING OR SUBMISSIONS OR NOTIFICATIONS), OR ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR RELIANCE.
11.2 You are solely responsible for determining whether this service is appropriate and sufficient for your dispute and needs.
11.3 YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE NAM PARTIES ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE YOU MAY SUFFER OR INCUR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF SETTLETEK. YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE NAM PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES NOR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF REVENUE OR PROFITS, LOSS OF ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS OR OTHER BUSINESS LOSSES OF ANY KIND, NO MATTER HOW CHARACTERIZED, WHETHER OR NOT FORESEEABLE, AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR BUSINESS LOSSES. CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NOTHING IN THESE TERMS SHALL AFFECT ANY NON-WAIVABLE STATUTORY RIGHTS THAT APPLY TO YOU.
11.4 IN NO EVENT SHALL THE NAM PARTIES’ TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE EXCEED THE FEES YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO NAM RELATED TO MEDIATION OF THE APPLICABLE DISPUTE. To help resolve any issues between us promptly, you agree to bring any claim arising out of or relating to these terms and conditions and your use of SettleTek within one year after a claim arises; otherwise, the claim is waived. This limitation applies regardless of the venue in which such claim is or could otherwise be asserted.
12.0 General
12.1 These terms and conditions shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles.
12.2 Unless the context otherwise requires, words in the singular shall include the plural and, in the plural, shall include the singular. A reference to a statute or statutory provision is a reference to it as amended, extended or re-enacted from time to time. Any words following the terms including, include, in particular, for example or any similar expression shall be construed as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words, description, definition, phrase or term preceding those terms.
12.3 References herein, in our Privacy Policy or any other policy of SettleTek to the word: (i) “Ensure” and its derivatives means to use commercially reasonable efforts to pursue the stated aim and under no circumstances implies or constitutes any guaranty of results or outcomes or any express or implied legal covenant, warranty or representation; (ii) ”best efforts”, “commercially reasonable efforts” or “reasonable efforts” means acting with diligence and good faith in the performance of its obligations; and (iii) “immediately” means promptly and without undue delay.
12.4 It is recommended that you consult an attorney if you do not understand any of the provisions set forth herein.
BY CONTINUING TO USE THIS WEBSITE, YOU AGREE AS FOLLOWS:
That you have read these entire terms and conditions, that you fully understand them and agree to abide by them.
That you understand the maximum amount claimable is limited to $100,000.
That you are the individual named in the User Information and that the information you have provided is accurate and can be relied on by the other party and NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation).
That you intend, are authorized and able to enter into this legally binding contract and agree to be bound and abide by these terms and conditions.
A printed copy of the Settlement Confirmation and/or Post Mediation Agreement will constitute a "writing" under any applicable law or regulation.
Overview
SettleTek is a simple and expeditious way to resolve claims and disputes valued at $100,000 or less.
SettleTek is an interactive, digital settlement application which offers disputing parties a means to settle cases in a confidential, quick and inexpensive manner at YOUR convenience and at YOUR computer. During a pre-scheduled 15 minute eResolution Session, Claimants submit demands reflective of an amount they are willing to accept to settle the case and Respondents submit offers reflective of an amount they are willing to pay to settle a case. If the Claimant's demand and the Respondent's offer meet the SettleTek settlement criteria (that is, if the bid amounts are within 30% of each other or if the Respondent's offer exceeds the Claimant's demand), the case will settle for the midpoint between the two bid amounts. Each party's bids are NEVER disclosed to their adversary. A dollar figure is ONLY revealed when the case settles and only the settlement amount is shown.
If the case is not settled during the eResolution Session, the parties will receive an on-screen notification that a Mediator will be initiating a Virtual Mediation to assist the parties with the negotiation process for up to another 30 minutes.
Good luck and enjoy using SettleTek!
Case Submission
Before cases can be submitted and negotiated through SettleTek, you must register on the SettleTek website by clicking on either "Sign-In" or "Get Started" on the home page.
Either party, that is, the Claimant or the Respondent, may submit a case to be resolved through SettleTek by clicking on "Submit a Case" after you have signed in to the application. Once a case is entered into the SettleTek system, the system will offer a series of dates and times for the eResolution Session to take place. Once the submitting party indicates the dates and times that are acceptable, an invitation to participate will be automatically generated and sent to the invited party. The invitation will remain open for 72 hours. Once your invited party accepts the invitation and registers/signs in, the invited party will be asked to select one of the dates and times offered. If none of the times work, the invited party will have the option to select alternate dates which will then go back to the submitting party for review and confirmation. Once there is a mutually agreeable date and time, all applicable parties will receive an e-mail confirmation of the date and time for the eResolution Session.
If the original invitation expires (after 72 hours) and the invited party would still like to negotiate that matter, the invited party can re-activate the case by clicking on the link in the original invitation email or in any subsequent reminder email and selecting "Re-Activate". SettleTek will then offer a new series of dates and times for the bidding process to take place. The process will continue as described above.
Case Submission
Before cases can be submitted and negotiated through SettleTek, you must register on the SettleTek website by clicking on either "Sign-In" or "Get Started" on the home page.
Either party, that is, the Claimant or the Respondent, may submit a case to be resolved through SettleTek by clicking on "Submit a Case" after you have signed in to the application. Once a case is entered into the SettleTek system, the system will offer a series of dates and times for the eResolution Session to take place.
Case Submission
If the original invitation expires (after 72 hours) and the invited party would still like to negotiate that matter, the invited party can re-activate the case by clicking on the link in the original invitation email or in any subsequent reminder email and selecting "Re-Activate". SettleTek will then offer a new series of dates and times for the bidding process to take place. The process will continue as described above.
eResolution™
On the agreed upon date and time, after logging into the SettleTek platform (you can follow the link in the calendar invite that will be sent to both parties) and when prompted that the eResolution Session has begun, either party may enter an opening offer/demand. SettleTek will notify the opposing party that an offer/demand has been entered by the other party. Each time an offer/demand is entered, the other party will receive an on-screen notification as well as a notification via email or text (as preferred). However, SettleTek will not disclose the amount of the bids entered by either party to the opposing party. A party may enter a maximum of (2) successive offers/demands prior to receiving a response offer/demand from the opposing party; once a response offer/demand is received that party will then be able to place additional bids. However, a Claimant may NOT increase successive demands and a Respondent may NOT decrease successive offers -
The eResolution Session will last for a maximum duration of 15 minutes or until settlement is reached, whichever comes first.
If, at any time, during the eResolution Session, the Claimant's last demand is within 30% of the Respondent's last offer or the Respondent's last offer is higher than the Claimant's last demand, the case will settle for the dollar value midpoint between the most recent offer/demand amounts from each party. The parties will receive an on-screen notification and an email confirming that the matter has settled and the dollar amount of the settlement.
eResolution™ Criteria
If, at any time, during the eResolution Session, the Claimant's last demand is within 30% of the Respondent's last offer or the Respondent's last offer is higher than the Claimant's last demand, the case will settle for the dollar value midpoint between the most recent offer/demand amounts from each party. The parties will receive an on-screen notification and an email confirming that the matter has settled and the dollar amount of the settlement.
Accept Invite
Virtual Mediation
At the expiration of the eResolution Session, if the case has not been settled, the parties will receive an on-screen notification that a Mediator will be joining the session.
The Mediator will then assist the parties with the negotiation process for another 30 minutes.
If the matter settles at any point during the Mediator session, the Mediator will prepare a Post Mediation Agreement and include the settlement terms agreed to by the parties. The Post Mediation Agreement will be immediately presented to both parties to sign the agreement via DocuSign during the Virtual Mediation. Once fully executed, the copy of the Post Mediation Agreement will be emailed to the parties.
Fees
To satisfy the fee requirements of using SettleTek, you must have an approved account with SettleTek or pay by credit card.
The following details the fees charged for negotiating a case on SettleTek:
- There is no fee to submit a case and invite your counter-party to participate in the eResolution process.
- If your counter-party does NOT accept the invitation, there will be no fee charged to either side.
- If your counter-party accepts the invitation, the fees are as set forth below.
Participation Fee:
A Participation Fee is charged to each party when the invitation to participate has been accepted (that is, after both parties have agreed to use SettleTek). The Participation Fee is $150 for Claimants and $250 for Respondents and will be charged once the invitation to participate has been accepted by both parties.
Settlement Fee:
If, and only if, you are successful settling your case using SettleTek, the following fee will be charged to each party in addition to the Participation Fee:
- If your case is settled during eResolution, then the Claimant will be charged an additional $200 and the Respondent will be charged an additional $200.
- If your case is settled during virtual mediation, then the Claimant will be charged an additional $450 and the Respondent will be charged an additional $450.
Cancellation/Rescheduling Fees:
Participation Fees are non-refundable. If you need to reschedule your case and you do so more than 24 hours prior to the scheduled eResolution Session, your paid Participation Fee will be applied to the rescheduled case. If you reschedule a case with less than 24 hours notice and/or fail to show up to your scheduled eResolution Session, you applicable Participation Fee will be deemed forfeited and you will be charged an additional Participation Fee to reschedule such case.