Beverly Hills, CA -- (SBWire) -- 01/29/2013 --The Agency for Dispute Resolution (the “Agency”) announced today the launch of Streamline Settle, a simplified, risk-free, and fixed-fee litigation management service. This new approach gives corporations a way to effectively manage their legal portfolio without the usual expense.

Research released by the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law shows that 53% of Fortune 1000 companies spent more than $1 million each on litigation in 2011, with the total annual litigation spend of $21.1 billion representing more than half of the overall legal budget.

The launch of Streamline Settle is extremely timely, because as the economy continues to struggle, many businesses are starting to rethink their litigation budget. Mark Fotohabadi, Managing Principal of the Agency for Dispute Resolution, stated that, “Streamline Settle helps in-house counsel resolve ‘below the waterline’ cases in a strategic and efficient manner, and our fixed-fee pricing brings certainty to an unpredictable effort.”

Taking advantage of recent advances in cloud-based computing, the Agency bills a flat fee, regardless of how long a case takes to settle. “We’ve invested well over $1.2 million in sophisticated infrastructure to create the high efficiency needed to offer this alternative fee arrangement,” Fotohabadi explained.

Because Streamline Settle quickly and confidentially removes dormant cases from internal dockets, “it helps move M&A transactions forward when risk-averse buyers would rather kill the deal entirely than assume the risk of successor liability. Moreover, large litigation portfolios place a company’s capital constantly at risk,” he said.

Fotohabadi also cited research that showed companies with rising contingent liabilities underperforming the market by over 200%, while companies with falling contingent liabilities delivered returns more than five times the market return. He added, “Savings from Streamline Settle drop straight to your bottom line, and greater earnings should lead to a higher stock price.”

With the current court funding crisis, cases will take longer to resolve as litigation gets stuck in court gridlock, perhaps for years, while increasing social connectivity has empowered investors to “read between the lines” and analyze how contingent liabilities buried in annual reports can impact the viability of a company. By unlocking shareholder value, freeing up cash, and bolstering stock price, Fotohabadi said, Streamline Settle is definitely an idea whose time has come.

About the Agency for Dispute Resolution
Agency for Dispute Resolution is a premier provider of alternative dispute resolution services to lawyers, companies and individuals with seemingly intractable conflicts. The agency’s celebrated panel of neutrals includes trained mediators, superior arbitrators, former top-tier judges, senior attorneys, skilled peacemakers and creative problem-solvers that possess unique expertise in a broad range of practice areas. For more information, please visit http://streamlinesettle.com

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