What If…

• Author: Karen Dyck
• Date: January 07, 2015

In 1998, after five years in private practice, I took a job in public legal education and was soon thereafter introduced to the problems many people have in accessing justice, whether in terms of working effectively with their lawyers, finding a lawyer, paying for a lawyer, or trying to address legal issues without the assistance of a lawyer.

Since that time, I’ve continued to work and volunteer in the non-profit legal sector, frequently with a focus on providing increased access to justice, at least for the lucky few. Next month I’m moving into an interim position directing a pro bono legal clinic. The workload there just keeps expanding.

Seventeen years later – encompassing most of my career, to date – the problems just keep growing. Fewer people are able to find and afford the services of a lawyer today than at that time. Legal Aid plans have been trimmed to the bare essentials. Countless online resources, court information booths, and DIY supports now supplement telephone and drop-in information services. More and more individuals are appearing in courts without legal representation.

I didn’t plan to make a career of access to justice work. Many of the changes required today, were known to be required 17 years ago or more, yet looking back, I can’t help but wonder at the lack of progress. Indeed, I am dismayed that despite steps forward, the access to justice sector faces a greater demand for services than ever before. And that demand just keeps on growing while resources remain stagnant or decline.

All of which brings me to wondering, what if…

• What if courts administration took seriously the well-founded complaints that their processes create barriers to justice and are, in many cases, much too complex and require significant overhaul?

• What...