Access to Justice

Author: Rebecca Sandefur

Since the founding of the American Bar Foundation (ABF), ABF scholars have been deeply engaged with fundamental questions of access to justice. Faculty Fellow, Rebecca L. Sandefur's, research on access to justice and civil legal needs continues this tradition through innovative empirical research and symposia that bridges the divides of scholarship and practice. Professor Sandefur's research produces new knowledge that informs our basic understanding of law and legal processes and is a powerful resource for policy makers and service providers as they seek to respond to the legal needs of the public today.

Read Rebecca L. Sandefur's latest report: Legal Tech for Non-Lawyers: Report of the Survey of US Legal Technologies

Civil Legal Aid: In the United States, civil justice problems are widespread. Just how widespread cannot be known, as the most recent comprehensive national survey of public experience with civil justice problems and institutions is thirty-five years old. These common problems affect as many as 150 million people each year, and have potentially wide-ranging and powerful impacts on core areas of life such as livelihood, shelter, the care and custody of minor children and dependent adults, neighborhood safety, and environmental conditions. Despite the fact that most of these problems never reach the formal justice system, courts are often overwhelmed by the numbers of civil litigants. Local, state, and federal governments, generous individuals, and private foundations contribute more than $1 billion each year to fund civil legal assistance for low- and moderate-income people, but because we lack research on this topic, we know little about how this activity is organized, what services this funding supports, how existing programs do their work, and whether outreach efforts adequately understand and address the most common barriers to access to these services.

In July 2018, on an episode of "New Thinking," a podcast produced by the Center for Court Innovation (a nonprofit think tank based in New York that helps the justice system aid victims, reduce crime and improve public trust in justice), Sandefur was interviewed by Host, Robert Wolf, about her research on civil justice issues, how they impact different communities, and the challenge of making civil legal aid more accessible to the people who need it. Sandefur discussed the "Community Needs and Services Study," a study funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted in the Fall of 2013, which surveyed 66% of a random sample of adults in a mid-sized American city in the Midwest about their experiences with civil justice issues. On the podcast, Sandefur reveals her findings from the study, mainly that most events and situations that have civil legal aspects or raise civil legal issues are handled outside the context of the formal justice system. Sandefur explained that people typically do not seek assistance from a lawyer or formal third party for these problems because they do not view them as being related to the law. Listen to the podcast here.

Roles Beyond Lawyers: Many in the United States who need assistance handling civil justice issues do not obtain it; some call this an “access to justice crisis." Emerging strategies for responding include new “roles beyond lawyers”—people who are not fully trained and qualified attorneys but who are authorized to do some of the work that traditionally only licensed lawyers have been able to do, such as giving legal advice to members of the public. These innovations seek to expand people’s access to rights and remedies under law while at the same time reducing the burdens that courts face when many litigants appear without lawyer representation. The Roles Beyond Lawyers study investigates how and how well these programs work at achieving their goals.

Read the ABF Research Brief on Professor Rebecca L. Sandefur's research on civil legal needs and public legal understanding »

Summaries and findings

Access to Civil Justice: Integrating and Advancing Theory and Practice: A Workshop Sponsored by NSF: Jun 18, 2019
Legal Tech for Non-Lawyers: Report of the Survey of US Legal Technologies: Jan 28, 2019
Preliminary Evaluation of the Washington State Limited License Legal Technician Program: Mar 21, 2017
Roles Beyond Lawyers: Evaluation of the New York City Court Navigators Program: Dec 14, 2016
Professor Sandefur presents her Access to Justice research at U.S. Department of Justice meeting: Feb 29, 2016
Roles Beyond Lawyers: New study will open door for examination of how legal needs are met without lawyers: Apr 12, 2015
Professor Sandefur presents her first findings on civil legal needs at 2014 ABA Annual Meeting: Aug 8, 2014
Civil Legal Needs and Public Legal Understanding Handout: Jan 1, 2014
Building Capacity for Access to Justice Research: Dec 7, 2012
Community Needs and Services Study (CNSS): Jan 1, 2012
Access Across America: Oct 7, 2011

All summaries and findings »

Access to Justice

Summaries and findings

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Research