NCJ Number
96665
Journal
Southern California Law Review Volume: 57 Issue: 6 Dated: (September 1984) Pages: 1039-1063
Date Published
1984
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Mandatory arbitration should be used as an alternative to traditional dispute resolution in the case of small or moderately sized claims.
Abstract
This would particularly benefit litigants who are financially unable to press their claims or who have claims too small to justify the costs of litigation. Mandatory arbitration can reduce the cost and delay associated with the litigation of minor disputes. It can also increase the perceived fairness of the judicial process and its outcomes as viewed by the participants, reduce popular dissatisfaction with the current method of dispute resolution, and give those with small claims the opportunity to gain more easily the benefits derived from the ability to litigate claims. Nine States have either passed laws or enacted court rules providing for the arbitration of smaller civil actions. These programs have five basic characteristics: eligibility requirements, prehearing activities, the hearing panel, the hearing itself, and a provision for a trial de novo to review questions of law and fact if one party is dissatisfied. With these provisions, mandatory arbitration laws will properly be held constitutional. A total of 130 footnotes are provided.