Court-Annexed Mandatory Arbitration Annual Report
Fiscal Year 2004

Conclusion

A review and analysis of the data and program descriptions provides confirmation that the arbitration system in Illinois is operating consistent with policy makers’ initial expectations for the program.

Statewide figures show that only a small number of the cases filed or transferred into arbitration proceed to an arbitration hearing. Arbitration-eligible cases are resolved and disposed prior to hearing in ways that do not require a significant amount of court time. Court-ordered dismissals, voluntary dismissals, settlement orders and default judgments typically require very little court time to process. Arbitration encourages dispositions earlier in the life of cases, helps the court operate more efficiently. It also saves the expense of costlier proceedings that might have been necessary later and saves time, energy and resources of the individuals accessing the court system to resolve their disputes.

Statewide statistics also show that a large number of cases that do proceed to the arbitration hearing are terminated in a post-hearing proceeding when the parties either petition the court to enter judgment on the arbitration award or remove the case from the arbitration calendar via another form of post-hearing termination, including settlement.

Finally, the overall success of the program can be quantified in the fact that a statewide average of less than 2% of the cases processed through an arbitration program proceeded to trial in Fiscal Year 2004.