Comment: Arbitration -- A Viable Alternative?

Private arbitration as an alternative to litigation has been viewed by many authorities as an important method of improving judicial administration. This Comment, in evaluating courts' attitudes toward arbitration, will analyze the standards used by courts in deciding whether issues are appropriate subjects for arbitration. Because arbitration can have no legal effect unless courts are willing to support the arbitrator's award, the standards used to determine whether an issue is arbitrable are critical to the future of arbitration. The Comment examines four areas law that illustrate a variety of judicial attitudes toward arbitrability: labor-management relations, domestic relations, will probation and estate distribution, and consumer affairs.