What We Know and Need to Know about the Legal Needs of the Public
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WHAT WE KNOW AND NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
THE LEGAL NEEDS OF THE PUBLIC
Rebecca L. Sandefur
In contemporary market democracies, law reaches deeply into many aspects
of daily life. Thousands of Americans every day find themselves facing troubles
that emerge at the intersection of civil law and everyday adversity, involving
work, finances, insurance, pensions, wages, benefits, shelter, and the care of
young children and dependent adults, among other core matters.' Though these
different types of problems affect different aspects of people's lives and concern
different kinds of relationships, they are defined by a central important quality:
they are justiciable. They have civil legal aspects, raise civil legal issues, have
consequences shaped by civil law, and may become objects of formal legal
action.2
This Paper reviews what we know about the civil legal needs of the public,
focusing on the U.S. context but drawing on research from peer nations as well.
In so doing, the Paper reveals some key gaps in our knowledge. Across a range
of studies, we have good evidence that:
* Experience with civil justice situations is common and widespread,
affecting all segments of the population.3 Many involve bread and
butter issues at the core of contemporary life, affecting livelihood,
shelter, or the care and custody of dependents.
* Populations that are vulnerable or disadvantaged often report higher
rates of contact with civil justice situations, and greater incidence of
negative consequences from these events.
* Most civil justice situations will never involve contact with an
attorney or a court.6
* The most important reasons that people do not take their civil
justice situations to law are:
Associate Professor of Sociology and Law, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
and Faculty Fellow, American Bar Foundation. The author thanks Jeffrey Selbin, David Udell, and
participants at the University of Illinois College of Law 2015 Faculty Retreat for comments and
suggestions. Errors and omissions remain her own.
1. Rebecca L. Sandefur, The Impact of Counsel: An Analysis of Empirical Evidence, 9
SEATTLE J. Soc. JUST. 51, 52 (2010) [hereinafter Impact of Counsel]; Rebecca L. Sandefur, The
Importance of Doing Nothing: Everyday Problems and Responses of Inaction, in TRANSFORMING
LIVES: LAW AND SOCIAL PROCESS 112, 113 (Pascoe Pleasence et al. eds., 2007) [hereinafter
Importance ofDoing Nothing].
2. HAZEL GENN, PATHS TO JUSTICE: WHAT PEOPLE DO AND THINK ABOUT GOING TO LAW
12 (1999) (defining justiciable event).
3. See infra Part I.A.
4. See infra Part I.A.
5. See infra Part I.B.
6. See infra Part II.
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What We Know and Need to Know about the Legal Needs of the Public
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