How Did That Dispute End Up on TV?
I'm often asked if the disputes on the various court television shows are real. Well, they are. In fact, I and other mediators I work with have seen people from one of our mediations later appear on one of these types of programs.
While procedures may vary from one court TV to the next, I can relate the experiences those who appeared on such shows have shared with me and other mediators.
Many of the cases on court television are actually small claims cases. One divorced couple had a case pending in Small Claims Court. Their dispute was over expenses and income from a jointly owned rental property. After filing papers in Small Claims Court each received a Federal Express delivered letter to their homes. The letter was from the producer of one of the nationally distributed shows.
The letter stated in bold letters that if their case was selected that "YOU CAN’T LOSE" since they would pay any awards, including travel and lodging costs to the city where the show was taped. As an added benefit the letter suggested that an appearance would possibly prevent having “your credit ruined for years to come arising out of this case.”
What the letter didn’t explain was that both parties must agree that the proceeding will not be a trial, but rather that the judge would serve as an arbitrator. Many people don’t understand that in arbitration a neutral third party typically hears arguments and renders a decision. As an arbitrator, the “judge” is not necessarily bound by strict rules of evidence nor past cases or laws.
As the divorced couple who received this letter told me, they had to compare a free out-of-town trip and the uncertainty of a television judge deciding their case in a few minutes time before a national audience versus appearing in Small Claims Court and working out an agreement together in private with a mediator. They decided to use mediation and, in fact, worked out an agreement in short order.
I have met with people who have been referred to mediation who ask to have their case heard by the Small Claims Court judge. They tell me they’ve seen enough court TV shows to know how the courts work, as have I, which is one of my major concerns about these programs. They are not real. As one court television producer told me, “Professor, it’s entertainment; it’s not supposed to be real.”