Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Winning in Small Claims Courts: An Empirical Analysis

Winning in Small Claims Courts: An Empirical Analysis Small claims courts provide consumers with a potentially effective method for complaint resolution. Little is known, however, about the factors which influence the probability of consumers winning their cases in court or of successfully settling their cases out of court. This study estimated these probabilities using 1975–76 data from the Syracuse, New York Small Claims Court. A major goal of the research was to determine if plaintiffs' demographic characteristics, the amount and type of advice sought by plaintiffs and the specific characteristics of the cases differentially affected the probability of successful consumer outcomes. Major findings were that economic variables such as the amount of the claim and the amount offered by way of settlement of the claim primarily determined the probability of settling out of court. Neither sex nor race had any impact on the probability of winning in court. Advice from the small claims court staff and from lawyers both were found to lower the probability that the consumer would win in court. The results point to the need for more empirical analyses of small claims court cases and may aid educators in advising consumers on the use of the institution and policy makers concerned with court reform. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Consumer Affairs Wiley

Winning in Small Claims Courts: An Empirical Analysis

Download PDF
18 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/winning-in-small-claims-courts-an-empirical-analysis-d2qLp182i3

References (5)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1982 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0022-0078
eISSN
1745-6606
DOI
10.1111/j.1745-6606.1982.tb00165.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Small claims courts provide consumers with a potentially effective method for complaint resolution. Little is known, however, about the factors which influence the probability of consumers winning their cases in court or of successfully settling their cases out of court. This study estimated these probabilities using 1975–76 data from the Syracuse, New York Small Claims Court. A major goal of the research was to determine if plaintiffs' demographic characteristics, the amount and type of advice sought by plaintiffs and the specific characteristics of the cases differentially affected the probability of successful consumer outcomes. Major findings were that economic variables such as the amount of the claim and the amount offered by way of settlement of the claim primarily determined the probability of settling out of court. Neither sex nor race had any impact on the probability of winning in court. Advice from the small claims court staff and from lawyers both were found to lower the probability that the consumer would win in court. The results point to the need for more empirical analyses of small claims court cases and may aid educators in advising consumers on the use of the institution and policy makers concerned with court reform.

Journal

Journal of Consumer Affairs – Wiley

Published: Jun 1, 1982

There are no references for this article.