Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution Across Cultures

There is a saying in the United States: the justice one receives is the justice one can afford. All too often, this saying proves true for both lower- and middle-class individuals. For the greatly impoverished, the access to justice crisis is twofold: part of the problem is knowing when to seek legal help and another is ensuring adequate delivery of legal assistance on request. Middle- class individuals face a different challenge, as they surpass the income threshold for free civil public legal aid but cannot afford the rising costs of conventional litigation.

The problem persists across different cultures. This Article discusses the low-income community, mandatory arbitration consumers, the LGBTQ community, women, and the black community as communities of culture that typically do not have adequate access to justice.