Models of suit and settlement65 suggest that the closer the plaintiff and defendant's estimates of the expected outcome of the litigation, the more likely they are to settle. Consequently, to the extent that the required prearbitration conciliation proceedings shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the parties' arguments, they would be expected to lead to a high rate of settlement. This is, in fact, observed: 80-85 percent of the disputes submitted to arbitration are settled during the proceeding's mandatory conciliation phase.

XREF: Connects to negotiation theory about information asymmetry and settlement; the closer parties' estimates, the more likely settlement.

Lisa Bernestein, Opting out of the Legal Sys…, loc. 258