Offers, Take-Home, and Gap Analysis

The Settlement Tracker does more than just record offers. It provides live financial analysis so you can advise your client on what they will actually receive (or what the total exposure is) at any given settlement figure. This article explains each component in detail.

Managing Offers

Adding an Offer

Click Add Offer to open the offer form. Fill in:

• Date and Time -- defaults to the current date and time; adjust if recording a historical offer
• Party -- select Plaintiff or Defendant
• Amount -- the gross settlement figure
• Notes -- optional free-text, e.g. "Inclusive of costs" or "Subject to instructions"

Editing and Deleting

Each offer in the table has action buttons:

• Edit (pencil icon) -- opens the offer form pre-filled with the existing details so you can correct an amount or update notes
• Delete (bin icon) -- removes the offer after confirmation. If the deleted offer was the agreed offer, the agreement is also cleared

Accepting an Offer

Click the green tick icon on any offer to mark it as the agreed settlement. A green banner appears showing the agreed amount and the net to client (or total cost in Defendant mode). To clear the agreement, click Clear on the banner.

Position Cards and Gap Analysis

The four position cards at the top of the tracker update automatically as offers are recorded:

Understanding the Gap

The Gap card shows the dollar difference between the parties' current positions. This is very helpful to see if you are getting towards the business end of things -- a narrowing gap tells you the parties are converging, while a stagnant gap may signal that one or both sides are approaching their limits.

Understanding the Midline

The Midline shows the settlement value you are tracking to if both parties keep up the current pace in terms of the intervals between their offers. It provides a natural reference point for "splitting the difference" discussions and helps you advise your client on where the negotiation is likely to land based on the trajectory so far.

Movement Tracking

Once both parties have made at least two offers each, the movement info bar appears, showing:

• Total movement -- the combined distance both parties have moved from their opening positions
• Plaintiff moved -- how far the plaintiff has come down from their opening offer
• Defendant moved -- how far the defendant has come up from their opening offer

This helps you assess whether one party is making proportionally larger concessions than the other.

Reading the Negotiation Chart

The chart plots each exchange as a point on a line graph. The plaintiff's offers form a descending line, the defendant's offers form an ascending line, and the midline is shown between them. The chart fills out as offers go back and forth, giving an immediate visual sense of whether the negotiation is converging and at what pace.

Offer Interval Patterns

In practice, it is common to see consistency in the intervals between offers at the start of a negotiation. Both parties tend to move in roughly proportional steps early on. This pattern typically holds until people start to see the end approaching and the limit of their instructions with it, at which point they start to tap the reins -- making smaller concessions as they approach their bottom line (or ceiling). Watching for this change in pace on the chart is a useful indicator that the negotiation is entering its final phase.

Costs and Expenses

The Costs & Expenses panel tracks all amounts that affect the net outcome.

Quick-Add Buttons

Common expense types are available as one-click buttons. In Plaintiff mode, the suggestions include:

• Legal Fees (Own), Barrister Fees, Adverse Costs, Medicare (Notice of Charge), Centrelink, Victims Compensation, Medical Records, Travel/Disbursements, Expert Reports, Other Legal Costs

In Defendant mode, the suggestions include:

• Legal Fees (Own), Barrister Fees, Expert Reports, Indemnity Gap / Excess, Claims Handling Costs, Plaintiff Costs (if ordered), Mediation Costs, Investigations, Subrogation/Recovery Credit, Prior Payments / Interim Costs

Click a quick-add button to add the item with a zero amount, then type in the dollar figure. Items already added are hidden from the quick-add list.

Custom Expenses

Click the Custom button to add any expense not in the quick-add list. You can specify the name, amount, and optionally whether it is an own cost or adverse cost.

Editing and Removing Expenses

Each expense shows an inline amount field that you can update at any time. Click the delete icon to remove an expense.

Take-Home Analysis

The Take-Home Analysis card (labelled "Settlement Cost Analysis" in Defendant mode) shows the financial outcome at three reference points:

• At Plaintiff Position -- the net to client if the matter settles at the plaintiff's latest offer
• At Defendant Position -- the net to client if the matter settles at the defendant's latest offer
• At Midline -- the net to client if the matter settles at the midline

Each figure shows the calculation breakdown (e.g., "Gross $400,000 - Expenses $66,100").

Quick Calculator

Below the three reference figures, the Quick Calculator lets you enter any dollar amount and instantly see the net result after expenses. For example, say if it gets to $200,000 -- type it in and you can see immediately what your client takes home after all expenses are deducted. This is useful when exploring settlement figures that do not match either party's current position, or when your client asks "what would I get at $X?" A Round button suggests rounding the entered amount to a sensible figure (e.g., $276,432 rounds to $276,000).

Next Steps

• Client Communication and Post-Settlement -- using the tracker data to advise clients
• Exporting and Sharing -- export the session as a Word document