The Institute of Legal Reform, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, released a study today that offers further evidence that arbitration can be beneficial to consumers in their disputes with businesses. According to the report, at www.instituteforlegalreform.com/media/pressreleases/20080715.cfm, consumers fare better in arbitration than in litigation:

“The new analysis, conducted by Navigant Consulting, looked at nearly 34,000 California debt collection arbitration cases. It found that 32.1 percent of the consumer debtors named in cases that did not settle prevailed in their case—either winning their arbitration hearing outright or having the claims against them dismissed. In another 16.4 percent of the cases that did not settle, the study found that consumer debtors had the claims against them reduced by a median of almost $825.

Consumers fare much more poorly when facing debt collection lawsuits than they do in arbitration. For example, a study released last fall by the Urban Justice Center found that less than eight percent of consumers facing debt collection lawsuits in New York City courts prevailed by having their cases dismissed—a rate four times worse than that of arbitration.”