In these programs, litigants take part in an arbitration hearing conducted by attorneys or retired judges who serve voluntarily and receive small honoraria. The hearing is conducted informally, with relaxed rules of evidence, outside of a regular courtroom. The outcomes are legally enforceable, but the parties retain their right to a jury trial through the appeal process. Eight states have authorized such programs. The Pittsburgh program processes a large proportion of the court's civil caseload at an estimated cost, in 1978, of $65 per case. The median time between case filing and arbitrator award is about 3 months. The court administers its arbitration program in a highly centralized fashion. A simple procedure randomly assigns arbitrator panels to cases. About half the cases brought to the program are collection cases; most of the rest are tort suits. The average amount claimed is about $2,500. A high proportion of the litigants are unrepresented. Only one-third of the cases that go to hearing are collection cases. About 80 percent of the cases which are heard result in an award for the plaintiff, and about 18 percent of the cases result in appeals. Six references are supplied.