Rebooting Justice: More Technology, Fewer Lawyers, And The Future Of Law
by Stephanos Bibas /
2017 / English / EPUB
968.3 KB Download
America is a nation founded on justice and the rule of law. But
our laws are too complex, and legal advice too expensive, for
poor and even middle-class Americans to get help and vindicate
their rights. Criminal defendants facing jail time may receive an
appointed lawyer who is juggling hundreds of cases and
immediately urges them to plead guilty. Civil litigants are even
worse off; usually, they get no help at all navigating the maze
of technical procedures and rules. The same is true of those
seeking legal advice, like planning a will or negotiating an
employment contract.
America is a nation founded on justice and the rule of law. But
our laws are too complex, and legal advice too expensive, for
poor and even middle-class Americans to get help and vindicate
their rights. Criminal defendants facing jail time may receive an
appointed lawyer who is juggling hundreds of cases and
immediately urges them to plead guilty. Civil litigants are even
worse off; usually, they get no help at all navigating the maze
of technical procedures and rules. The same is true of those
seeking legal advice, like planning a will or negotiating an
employment contract.Rebooting Justice
Rebooting Justice presents a novel response to
longstanding problems. The answer is to use technology and
procedural innovation to simplify and change the process itself.
In the civil and criminal courts where ordinary Americans appear
the most, we should streamline complex procedures and assume that
parties will not have a lawyer, rather than the other way around.
We need a cheaper, simpler, faster justice system to control
costs. We cannot untie the Gordian knot by adding more strands of
rope; we need to cut it, to simplify it.
presents a novel response to
longstanding problems. The answer is to use technology and
procedural innovation to simplify and change the process itself.
In the civil and criminal courts where ordinary Americans appear
the most, we should streamline complex procedures and assume that
parties will not have a lawyer, rather than the other way around.
We need a cheaper, simpler, faster justice system to control
costs. We cannot untie the Gordian knot by adding more strands of
rope; we need to cut it, to simplify it.