NCJ Number
94232
Date Published
1983
Length
173 pages
Annotation
The Pittsburgh court-based arbitration program achieves efficient outcomes for the court and for litigants though plaintiff determination of case eligibility, a centralized hearing process, minimal requirements for arbitrator appointment, and a shared commitment to delivering its form of justice efficiently.
Abstract
In 1982, the Pittsburgh program was responsible for about 64 percent of all civil case dispositions in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, with costs per case less than 10 percent of the cost of processing cases through the regular trial division. About half the cases are resolved without a hearing. Litigants using the program represent a cross-section of the metropolitan population. The program does not appear to encourage the filing of frivolous claims. For most litigants, the major cost was attorney fees of $200 to $300. Litigants spent no more than $50 on other legal costs and spent about 1.5 days in arbitration. Over 80 percent found the hearings fair, even among the losers. Sources of dissatisfaction are the long waits resulting from the single-session calendar-call approach to scheduling each day's hearings and the use of arbitration as an appeal mechanism for the lower court. Tabular data, footnotes, 17 references, and appendixes presenting the data collection forms and related materials are supplied.