Sanford School director’s research on access to justice featured in The New York Times Magazine

What happens when someone needs legal help but can’t afford an attorney, or doesn’t even know where to begin?

That’s the question at the center of a recent New York Times Magazine article exploring why a growing number of Americans are navigating civil court without legal representation. Among the voices featured in the article is Rebecca Sandefur, sociologist, professor and director of the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University.

The piece, titled “Lawyer Up? Increasingly, Americans Won’t, or Can’t,” examines how everyday people are often shut out of the U.S. civil court system, especially when they lack legal representation. It draws on Sandefur’s decades of work investigating how the very structure of the legal system affects who — and who doesn’t — get help.

A system designed for lawyers

One part of the article highlights Sandefur’s analysis of over 70,000 civil cases ranging from housing and disability hearings to custody disputes and benefits claims. The analysis finds that people facing legal challenges often go without a lawyer, and in many cases, they experience worse outcomes as a result. Even in small claims courts, at one point designed to handle everyday civil claims more expediently, well-resourced organizations with legal teams routinely have the upper hand over the average person. 

Sandefur’s work also explores why people avoid court entirely, even when their rights are at stake. Many, she finds, are deterred by a combination of cost, unfamiliarity and lack of support. For some, the legal process feels so inaccessible that they opt to live with unresolved problems, like garnished paychecks or unstable living situations, rather than try to work through the system.

“Courts were not designed for people,” Sandefur notes in the article. “The processes that you have to navigate to use them were implemented for a very narrow part of the population that invented them and speaks in Latin and knows what pleading is.”

This framing sets the tone for a broader critique. The article challenges the way legal systems operate as if all participants are trained professionals. It also urges a shift in how people think about justice: not as an unapproachable government entity, but a system that is primarily funded by citizens and should therefore be designed to serve them.

A career of advocacy and action

Sandefur is internationally recognized for her contributions to law and society research. In addition to directing the Sanford School, she is a faculty fellow at the American Bar Foundation and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient.

At ASU, she leads efforts to reimagine justice access through the Justice Futures project, an interdisciplinary group focused on making legal systems more people-centered. She is also a recurring co-organizer for the annual Access to Justice conference series, which convenes law advocates nationwide to discuss new approaches for improving the justice system.

Sandefur’s New York Times Magazine feature drives home just how pressing and relevant the issues she studies have become. While attorneys remain out of reach for many, she hopes her work will continue to bring attention to practical solutions, like community-based legal support or plain-language reforms, so everyday people can find justice.