Court Arbitration to Copy Baseball System : Law: Judges’ experiment will have plaintiffs and defendants submit settlement offers in disputes involving less than $50,000.

Borrowing a name and some tactics from professional baseball, three Los Angeles County Superior Court judges on Wednesday unveiled a new arbitration program designed to generate prompt settlements of legal disputes involving $50,000 or less.

The judges said they expect the program to put money into the hands of plaintiffs more swiftly, reduce insurance companies’ legal costs and save the courts time, energy and money.

Called Voluntary Baseball Arbitration, the new program is patterned after the binding arbitration rules that major league baseball clubs and players use in contract disputes.

Although some litigants have used arbitration for years, judges can order only non-binding arbitrations. The new program--although still voluntary--is binding.

Basically, the arbitrator will decide which side is correct and will accept the winner’s settlement proposal.

“The idea behind baseball arbitration is to force each side to submit a realistic figure,” and prevent cases from going into “extra innings,” said Superior Court Judge Richard G. Harris. “A plaintiff reaching for the moon risks forcing the arbitrator to choose the defendant’s figure. A defendant who low-balls may force choice of the plaintiff’s figure.”

There is some wiggle room, however. Opposing sides exchange proposed damage awards 30 days before arbitration, then submit revised figures to the arbitrator 10 days before arbitration. After the hearing, the figures may be revised one more time before the arbitrator makes a decision.

The arbitrator is required only to render a decision and does not have to prepare written findings, reducing time and costs, Harris said. This also means that the only public record will be the initial case filing and any resolution approved by the court.

Robert M. Mallano, presiding judge of the Superior Court, said he had spoken to Tom Roberts of Rancho Palos Verdes, one of baseball’s leading arbitrators, to get insights on how that program works. Its application in the Los Angeles courts is expected to be considerably more mundane than the world of multimillion-dollar contracts that Roberts routinely handles. The judge said he expects the program to be used primarily in auto accident cases, thousands of which are filed in the county every year.

Harris said it has taken almost a year to design the program, with considerable input from plaintiffs’ attorneys, defense lawyers and insurance companies that play a prominent behind-the-scenes role in civil litigation.

Representatives of Allstate Insurance Co., State Farm, the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Assn. and the Assn. of Southern California Defense Counselwere on hand to endorse the program.

The judges said they could not state precisely how many cases would be affected. However, Harris said 25% of the 75,000 civil suits filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court each year involve auto accidents. He said 50% to 60% of all personal injury cases involve disputes of $50,000 or less.

Mallano said only 1% of all civil suits stemming from auto accidents go to trial; the rest are settled. However, he said it often takes considerable time to reach a settlement and valuable court resources are used in the early phases of a case.

“But a large part of economic benefit of the program is to the participants,” said Superior Court Judge Richard C. Neal, because injured parties would be paid off sooner and defendants would cut the costs of preparing cases.

“We’d like to settle cases early; if the court system can help us, that’s good for everyone,” said Scott McFarland, a casualty claim manager for Allstate.

Mallano said retired judges would preside over most of the arbitrations under the new program, and would be paid varying fees by the litigants.

In a related development, the judges announced a new court-ordered mediation program, also involving disputes of $50,000 or less. It was established because a new state law requires courts in Los Angeles County to institute a pilot mandatory mediation program.

Lori R. Behar, past president of the Assn. of Southern California Defense Counsel, said she thinks the mediation program is likely to be used in cases where emotional issues may be involved, rather in disputes over purely money damages. She said a boundary dispute between two neighbors is one type of case that would be suited to mediation.

Mallano said the new programs are among several the courts are devising as they face severe funding problems. In the last two years, the budget of the Superior Court has declined $20 million, he said.