Court-Annexed Mandatory Arbitration Annual Report
Fiscal Year 2004

Summary Analysis

In summary, the statistics provided by all programs on cases at the arbitration pre-hearing stage demonstrate that the parties are working to settle their differences without significant court intervention, prior to the arbitration hearing. The aggressive scheduling of hearing dates induces early settlements by requiring the parties to carefully manage the case prior to the arbitration hearing. Because arbitration hearings are held within one year of the filing or transfer of the arbitration case, in most jurisdictions the circuit court can dispose of approximately 65-75% of the arbitration caseload within one year of case filing. This case management tool provides swifter dispositions for litigants.