Sponsored by the Hebrew Free Loan Association, an agency of the Community Chest, a Jewish court of arbitration has been organized to hear civil disputes between members of San Francisco Jewry, William G. Weiss, executive director of the association, announced.
No charge will be made to persons submitting their differences to the court, and contestants will not be permitted to employ lawyers, Weiss said. Decisions of the court will be binding, under sections 1281 to 1290 of the California code of civil procedure, which recognizes arbitration courts as legal. Morris Spiegelman, a director of the association, will act as presiding judge.
“In establishing this court we have two purposes in mind,” Weiss said. “First, it will relieve our civil courts of a great deal of petty litigation, which usually results in great expense to all parties concerned. Second, and most important, we hope to eliminate a great deal of bitterness so often engendered by law suits.
“Under our plan, directors of the Hebrew Free Loan Association will act as judges. There are fifteen directors. Contestants will each select a judge from the board, and the two thus chosen will select a third, making a court of three. Neither of the judges will know who selected him.”
The court of arbitration has been successfully tried in New York, Baltimore and London, Mr. Weiss said. If it works out satisfactorily here, it will be extended to include any San Franciscan who wishes to avail himself of the service, irrespective of religious faith.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
