Abstract: | Advocates of mediation and arbitration claim their to adjudication in three areas: reduction of court caseloads and costs; increase in accessibility of justice; and improvement in the quality of justice. Available evidence shows that mediation and arbitration neither lower court costs (though they increase court capacity), nor substantially expand access to justice. By some measures, however, mediation provides fairer outcomes and, in civil cases, higher rates of compliance than does adjudication. Though less effective than often claimed in reducing problems of administering justice, mediation and arbitration-in their distinctive ways-do thus offer modestly effective alternatives to court. |