Binding Arbitration and Small Claims

The audience that attended the Forum: Courtrooms as TV Entertainment, learned many things on the night when we hosted Judges Marilyn Milian and Alex Ferrer. First, as an incentive for parties to opt out of small claims court and to enter the legal arena of reality TV, the producers agree to pay the cost of the losing side--meaning that whatever monetary judgment is handed down, the defendant will not be responsible for paying it. The producers of the show will pay the damage award. Second, these TV courtrooms scour the country for interesting, sometimes salacious cases that are scheduled to be heard in small claims court. Then they determine whether the parties to the action, along with their claims, would make for engaging, compelling television. The result is binding arbitration--whatever happens on television in resolving the case, whatever judgment the judges reach, is final. There is no appeal. But would this formula work with more complex cases, those that are not heard in small claims court? And why is it that people choose to opt out of the essential privacy of a state court proceeding in order to be humiliated in front of a national television audience?