The Consumer Federation of America has adopted a number of HALT's chief legal reform proposals.

The Consumer Federation of America works to advance pro-consumer policy on issues like energy, financial services, health and safety, government accountability and telecommunications. At the annual meeting, member organizations discuss and vote on policy resolution proposals submitted by the Federation's Policy Resolutions Committee, comprised of the chairpersons of various subcommittees that meet each year to evaluate new policy ideas and propose resolutions. Consumer Federation of America resolutions help set the policy agenda for the courts, Congress, the White House as well as federal and state regulatory agencies.

In 2008, the Consumer Federation of America will work with state policy-makers, Congress, the judiciary and the White House to implement the following resolutions:

Access to Court-Sponsored Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs:
To increase citizens' access to justice, help reduce costs and delay and improve consumer satisfaction with the resolution of disputes involving consumer goods or services, CFA urges state and federal judiciaries to adopt programs that help parties to settle disputes through mediation and other types of alternative dispute resolution prior to litigation. These programs should offer post-dispute ADR that is voluntary, not mandatory for either party, and that is non-binding on the consumer. Following the model of the District of Columbia's Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division, courthouses should provide trained independent mediators and other dispute resolution specialists.

Judicial Training on Pro Se Assistance:
CFA urges state and federal judiciaries to require that judges receive orientation training and continuing judicial education related to assistance of pro se (self-represented) litigants. Workshops should include materials and lectures on the court's special responsibilities to pro se parties. Judges should also be trained to explain legal terminology use plain language when dealing with pro se litigants. Self-help libraries staffed with advisors should be established at courthouses as a resource for pro se litigants.

Regulation of Professional Guardians:
To provide better protection for incompetent adults when courts appoint professional guardians for them, CFA urges states to strengthen procedural protections and improve oversight of the guardianship system. Steps that should be taken include: mandatory training and licensing of professional guardians, adopting detailed standards of conduct for guardians that may be grounds for disciplinary action, regular, comprehensive review of all court-mandated reports on the status of wards, establishing compensation guidelines for guardians, auditing estate expenditures, reforming the procedures for emergency guardianships, and establishing independent regulatory bodies with disciplinary authority.

The Consumer Federation of America has also adopted other HALT proposals in the past. Click the links above at right to view proposals adpoted in past years.