Extract from Sam Bock’s article “4 Barriers Blocking Access to Justice (and How to Help Break Them)”
Although billions of dollars of work is performed by millions of professionals in the legal industry every year, there remains an undeniable gap in access to justice across demographics in the United States.
At Relativity Fest, a panel of professionals from both sides of the bench convened to discuss this important issue and how legal experts of all kinds can help close that gap.
“This is the most important session you’ll attend this week,” said Relativity’s David Horrigan as he opened the panel, which took place on the first full day of Relativity Fest. “The issue is access to justice, and it’s a problem—but we don’t want to focus on the doom and gloom. We want to discuss how we can all help improve this in our jurisdictions, and across the nation.”
It was a sentiment that set the stage for a productive, empowering discussion. What follows are four key barriers that panelists touched on, the solutions that could help address them, and how every legal professional can, right now, start contributing to a more just future.
