Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Almost every court system in the nation has an ADR program, and for most courts, at least some classes of litigants are compelled to use it before or during formal litigation. The most common forms of ADR are: Mediation: sessions in which the parties and/or their lawyers meet with a neutral (the […]
These instruments, despite their promise, give rise to some concerns worthy of study. Many rely on subjective factors, which require the exercise of judgment to score; their predictive power has not been assessed using data from the jurisdictions in which they are used; most instruments depend on information that, realistically, can only be obtained from an arrestee interview;
The Study: Part I The Debt Collection Default Study measures what kinds of mailings from legal services providers to defendants are effective in reducing default rates in debt collection cases. To our knowledge, our study is the first of its kind to evaluate an intervention intended to reduce default rates in civil cases using a randomized control
Problems with Current Solutions Some have suggested legal representation. But there will never be sufficient legal aid resources to provide a traditional, attorney-client relationship to all low- and middle-income individuals facing debt-related legal problems. The key, then, is to produce rigorous evidence regarding when and where to deploy scarce lawyer time most effectively, while designing
