This study examines (1) how dispute resolution processes are created and operate in the context of consumer legal disputes; and (2) what are the effects of such institutions on public legal rights. Although it is well-settled that consumers are increasingly encountering law in internal and alternative dispute resolution forums administered by businesses, legal and social science scholars have devoted less attention to how and under what conditions public laws are internalized by businesses with state approval, the processes and mechanisms through which private legal orders operate, and the effects of private legal orders on legislatively created legal rights. This project compares an instance where consumer warranty disputes are resolved in public alternative dispute resolution processes run and administered by the state (Vermont) with an instance where consumer disputes are resolved in private dispute resolution institutions run by private organizations approved by the state (California). The project involves two phases. The first, which is historical, traces each state?s legislative history as well as case law to examine how and under what conditions two different consumer protection dispute resolution models emerged. The second uses interviews, content analysis, and a multi-site analytic ethnographic approach that compares how each state?s dispute resolution model affects how legal rights are resolved. Understanding the processes and mechanisms by which these unique public and private alternative dispute resolution forums operate will allow more sophisticated policy design and more informed legislative and judicial decisions. Moreover, this project contributes theoretically to the sociology of law, sociology of organizations, and political science studies of American politics and administrative law studies of collaborative governance.
