A reflection is a type of proposal that gets its name from an algorithm that Smartsettle uses to “reflect” an acceptable package off the efficiency frontier. Visible reflections are generated in such a way that they look as good as possible to another party, given the constraints of the case (including a buffer if any). When one party submits a visible Reflection, other parties do not see the values of the actual reflected proposal, but rather, if possible, something better that “reflects” how good that proposal could be if it was optimized. The actual optimal package is not revealed to anyone until parties receiving the reflected proposal accept it. Parties may also create hidden Reflections, in which case how good they might look to the other party is kept confidential until two or more parties are close enough so that an equivalent optimal package can be generated.

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