Imagine if lawyers, judges, and decision makers used rigorous evidence to design and run the U.S. justice system.
They could:
- Enable far more people, especially those who can’t afford to hire lawyers, to access civil justice;
- Make the criminal justice system fairer and more efficient; and
- Promote the dignity and respect of individuals and families as they encounter the justice system.
The Access to Justice Lab creates and shares the rigorous evidence needed to make these transformations happen.
Theory of Change
Transforming the justice system by:
DESIGNING
access-to-justice interventions and gold-standard, randomized evaluations
IMPLEMENTING
randomized control trials to find out what works for individuals and families in civil and criminal law
SHARING
lessons learned and best practices to transform the system
TRAINING
current and future practitioners, scholars, and judges in research methods and results to increase capacity and support for rigorous empirical methods