MOCK DEFENDANTS PROCEDURAL JUSTICE JUDGMENTS OF ALTERNATIVE TRIAL PROCEDURES IN A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE

Mental health professionals were asked to imagine themselves in the ro le of defendant in a medical malpractice case. Each participant was to ld that their case could be tried according to standard adversary tria l procedures or by an alternative procedure. The alternative procedure s involved either varying the way that expert testimony would be devel oped or bifurcation of issues at trial. Participants rated the availab le alternative procedure relative to the ADVERS procedure in terms of preference, fairness, willingness to comply with trial outcomes, and o ther procedural justice dimensions. Results indicated a strong endorse ment of potential alternatives to the standard adversarial trial proce ss for resolving medical malpractice claims.