The true scope and meaning of a particular statute is

■ The true scope and meaning of a particular statute is never known with
precision until it is formally construed by the Courts in settling actual
disputes arising under it.
■ Many statutes don’t lend themselves to the plain meaning rule, so
■ Why interpret?
1) Legislatures draft statutes with an element of “deliberate impression”
which intentionally gives courts a degree of latitude in applying the
statute.
2) Even if a legislature tries to define all of the key elements of a statute
with great precision, the effort sometimes fails because some concepts
are extremely difficult to define without reference to a specific set of
facts
3) The complex process of amendment and deletion as a bill goes through
the legislature sometimes leads to a product that is less clear than the
originally introduced bill.
4) Compromise sometimes leads to lack of clarity.
■ Ways to interpret:
1) The Court will examine the law’s textual
2) A Court might examine the statute’s legislative history.
3) Statute’s circumstantial context may be taken into account by a court
seeking to discern the meaning of legislative language.
4) A court will consider precedent when interpreting a statute.
7) Alternative Dispute Resolution:
ADR refers to methods of settling disputes outside of a courtroom. Some types are
binding or legally final. Other processes allow parties to go to court later if they
wish. The next section of the book introduces some of the most common ADR
techniques.
1. Negotiated settlement
In many cases, a dispute ends without a trial because the parties communicate and
agree to a settlement. For example, a defendant might agree to pay $25,000 if the
plaintiff agrees to drop all claims.
- Most disputes never get to the courtroom
- Approximately 95% of cases are resolved without a trial
2. Arbitration
With this method of ADR, the two parties sign a contract that gives one or more
arbitrator the power to resolve a dispute. They then present evidence to the
arbitrator, who makes a decision. For example, Al and Bob might have a car
accident and sign an arbitration agreement which names Judge Judy as the
arbitrator. If Judge Judy awards Bob $5,000, then Al has a real legal obligation to
pay that amount to Bob.
The arbitration agreement can be signed after a dispute arises or before there is
any problem to begin with. If you read the fine print, you have probably agreed to
arbitrate any future disputes with your cell phone service provider, credit card
issuer, and perhaps your employer.
On the positive side, arbitration tends to be much faster and significantly less

expensive than a trial. On the negative side, there are no appellate arbitrators.
These decisions tend to be final. It is possible to appeal an arbitrator's decisions to
appellate courts, but it is not easy. Oxford Health Care Plans v. Sutter details the
Supreme Court's current stand on the issue.