New York City to "Cybersettle" More Cases Online

Cybersettle, the world leader in accelerated dispute resolution, announced today that New York City will extend and expand the use of Cybersettle to resolve a larger number, and greater variety of claims that are filed against the City. The city has signed a three-year contract with Cybersettle with an option to extend for two more years. Cybersettle will also be creating a major incident claims system for the New York City Office of the Comptroller where consumers can get immediate information on how to file a claim, download forms and receive general assistance in the aftermath of a major incident like a water main break.

Cybersettle has been helping New York save money and manage claims in a pilot program since 2004. The expanded use of Cybersettle is designed to help streamline the city's claims system, get people paid faster and to save millions at the same time.

"During our pilot program," said Charles Brofman, President and CEO of Cybersettle, "our innovative technology was incredibly successful at resolving claims against New York quickly and efficiently, and we're excited to see our program with New York grow and expand."

While the original pilot program was used to settle claims cases filed against New York City involving sidewalk, school, roadway, city property, traffic device, motor vehicle, recreation and personal injury, the new program will expand to include personal property damage, subrogation and medical malpractice claims.

"We are thrilled to be able to serve the city in this way," said Brofman, who co-invented the online, double-blind bid system. "Comptroller Thompson is using Cybersettle to develop a system that works for the city and its people. When we designed the system, I always had a vision of its huge impact in the public sector. Through Cybersettle, I can give something back to a city that has always been so good to me."

When using Cybersettle, parties submit offers and demands confidentially online, and cases settle automatically when the demand is less than the offer. If the undisclosed offer and demand are within a specific range of each other, the case also automatically settles by splitting the difference.

Cybersettle has proven to dramatically reduce claim cycle times. While traditional claims against New York City can take a number of years to resolve, claims that were entered into Cybersettle settled, on average, in eight days.

"Back when I worked in the Bronx DA's office," said Mr. Brofman, "I saw firsthand how the ever-increasing backlog of cases was hindering case administrators from quickly and effectively responding to new cases. When it costs the city money each day to keep each case open, and those cases remain open for years, the costs quickly add up. Our pilot program showed the City firsthand how settling cases faster through Cybersettle reduced its backlog of cases, cutting down its court administrative costs and workload, saving the people of New York City millions of dollars."

New York City initiated a pilot program with Cybersettle in 2004 to help reduce a huge backlog of lawsuits against the city and to try to reduce the costs of those lawsuits to the City and its taxpayers. During the two-year pilot, New York City enjoyed a settlement rate of 67% of cases that went through the system within 60 days, and saw the administrative costs of claim settlement drop dramatically. The pilot program was estimated to have saved taxpayers more than $25 million.

The program has also been getting positive attention outside the Comptroller's office. It was cited in the June 2006 issue of Independent Budgeting Office (IBO) of New York City's Inside the Budget, as a smart cost-saver. And, the winning pilot results Cybersettle produced for New York City were also cited in BusinessWeek, which called the Comptroller's Office a "Streamlining Pacesetter" for its use of Cybersettle.

About Cybersettle

Cybersettle is the world leader in accelerated dispute resolution and inventor of the online, double-blind bid system. Its unique multi-step settlement method consists of Cybersettle's renowned Web-enabled settlement application, followed by optional telephone facilitation. Cybersettle's expedited process allows parties to resolve a wide range of claims quickly and confidentially. Cybersettle has handled over 100,000 transactions and has facilitated more than $1 Billion dollars in settlements, including bodily injury and other types of insurance claims.

Cybersettle was awarded United States Patent No. 6,330,551 for the Computerized Dispute Resolution System and Method. Cybersettle has similar patent coverage in more than a dozen other countries.

Cybersettle Financial Services LLC, formed in late 2004 and wholly owned by Cybersettle, Inc., has successfully launched the RapidFunds product to provide near immediate receipt of settlement funds to claimant, claimant's attorney, or both. As the RapidFunds product continues to become widely accepted in the marketplace, Cybersettle Financial Services LLC expects to launch additional financial services to lawyers in 2006.