NCJ Number
104295
Journal
Willamette Law Review Volume: 2 Issue: 2 and 3 Dated: (Summer 1986) Pages: 237-284
Date Published
1986
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This article identifies the causes and consequences of litigation delay, explains how court-annexed arbitration can reduce such delay, describes Oregon's court-annexed arbitration program, and proposes ways to strengthen it.
Abstract
Factors in litigation delay are an increase in case filings without a consequent increase in court resources and the efficiency of case management practices. Case delay increases the financial cost of litigation and reduces public confidence in the court system. Court-annexed arbitration, which diverts certain types of civil cases to mandatory, nonbinding arbitration as a precondition for trial, helps to reduce the cost and time for litigation. Oregon's 1983 arbitration statute authorizes local jurisdictions to adopt court-annexed arbitration programs and establishes broad outlines for arbitration programs while giving courts the latitude to develop their own rules. In 1985 the Oregon Legislature undermined the effectiveness of the arbitration statute by failing to increase the jurisdictional limit for abritration cases in circuit courts. The statute should be amended to permit arbitration in district court for eligible cases up to the court's $10,000 jurisdictional limit and increase the jurisdictional limit for arbitration cases in circuit court from $15,000 to $25,000. Local rules should include a modification of the arbitrator selection procedure to ensure that attorney-arbitrators are qualified, and the rules should ensure that the courts maintain control over the pace of arbitration. 228 footnotes.