NCJ Number
92792
Date Published
1984
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The costly and inefficient legal system in the United States should be reformed through using selective deregulation, simplifying the methods of regulation, simplifying antitrust litigation, and adopting alternative methods of dispute resolution.
Abstract
The United States now has 3 times as many lawyers per capita as England and 20 times as many as Japan. It enacts about 150,000 new laws and 10 times that many new regulations each year. Court caseloads have risen sharply, legal expenses are high, and citizens must often wait years for a case to be resolved. The answer to these problems is not to abandon law or renounce all rules, for this would leave the powerless unprotected and would invite social chaos. The answer is to deregulate and simplify, focusing only on those laws and legal processes that aggravate injustice. Deregulation in the air transport, trucking, and other transportation industries could save consumers billions of dollars. However, deregulation should not be done mindlessly, since protective regulation clearly produces many benefits. Using fees instead of complex regulations would be a more efficient way of regulating water and air pollution. Antitrust regulation should be simplified by using strict judicial management and reducing the number of relevant antitrust issues. Alternative dispute resolution systems which should be expanded are the enactment of no-fault systems in personal injury cases, the use of mediation and arbitration, and the use of mobile courts. If properly conceived and implemented, delegalization can transform the rule of law from a source of frustration into the foundation for a more just society.