Talk Justice, an LSC Podcast: New Report Builds a Framework for Civil Justice Innovation
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Carl Rauscher
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WASHINGTON– Legal scholars discuss the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ new report on civil justice innovation on the latest episode of LSC's “Talk Justice” podcast, released today. LSC President Ron Flagg hosts the conversation with Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University and former dean of Harvard Law School; William C. Hubbard, dean of University of South Carolina School of Law and co-founder and board chair of the World Justice Project; and Daniel B. Rodriguez, former dean of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and holder of the Harold Washington Professorship.
“Achieving Civil Justice: A Framework for Collaboration,” is the latest publication from the Academy’s Making Justice Accessible project. Since 2014, this initiative has highlighted the scale of the civil justice gap by recognizing its social, economic and human costs, and calling for improved data collection. The project team is also looking ahead to set standards for civil justice and to ensure all Americans have meaningful access to justice.
Hubbard says the Academy's new publication is incredibly valuable.
“[This report] doesn't just discuss the theory of change, but it outlines very effective paths forward,” says Hubbard. “It identifies outstanding programs and ways to sustain those programs and take those programs to scale—the report is the best resource I've seen to guide individuals, organizations, and institutions to address this glaring gap in our constitutional democracy,” says Hubbard.
“I'm most encouraged by the wonderful collaborations that are indeed taking place in the civil justice realm,” Hubbard continues. “Ten years ago, when this project was started, we were not talking about civil justice in a holistic way, we were pretty much discussing the topic in terms of lawyers, judges and courts. The work of the academy in this space has crystallized the imperative that we must look at civil justice more broadly and more collaboratively.”
The guests all highlighted some of their favorite collaborations and innovative projects featured in the study. These include Alaska’s community justice workers, Kaiser Permanente’s medical-legal partnerships, Salt Lake City’s Kayak Court, Utah’s “regulatory sandbox,” and the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Filing Fairness Project.
The report notes that the pandemic changed the landscape and propelled some of these projects forward faster than would have otherwise been the case. Flagg and the guests discuss how to keep the momentum for innovation going into the future. Rodriguez explains that huge adaptations were made to legal education due to the pandemic, on the part of both law schools and the American Bar Association.
“What it revealed was the capability of those in the American legal education system to pivot and to make adjustments in the face of crises,” says Rodriguez. “Now, the COVID crisis has passed, but the access to justice crisis has not passed at all.”
“I certainly would welcome [that] kind of innovation, flexibility, regulatory bravery on the part of those in American legal education—because again, it's not all about lawyers—but this is the next generation of folks who are going to leave American law schools and play hopefully instrumental roles in helping close the access to justice crisis,” Rodriguez continues.
Minow, who co-chairs the Academy’s Making Justice Accessible project, emphasizes the importance of data and human-centered services.
“The medical profession has offered many examples to us, and we really should learn—in 1900, you were more likely to die if you went to a hospital than if you didn't, and how did things change?” Minow says. “They changed because of evidence-based practices, and it's time that the justice world pursues that approach.”
“There's more and more efforts, and with technology, we can gather data and we can integrate it—we can have real-time information about where to direct resources, so I'm hopeful, but I do think justice will require a renewal, not just looking to the past, but looking to the future.”
Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, YouTube, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council.