Can the presence of legal counsel at a criminal justice defendant’s first court hearing transform their journey through the justice system? Two Texas counties examined this possibility in a now-completed A2J Lab study. Project researchers discuss the results in this Proof Over Precedent episode.
Access to justice via government websites should mean ease of digital access to information. In this Student Voices episode of Proof Over Precedent, J.D. candidate Spencer Thieme argues for simple and inexpensive upgrades to state and federal government websites to improve accessibility for the nonlawyers and non-government workers.
Early this year, the A2J Lab was expanding globally for the first time, bringing its mission to study access to justice to both Kenya and Tunisia when a federal stop work order abruptly shut down the project. In this episode of Proof Over Precedent, we have no study results to report about the project that intended to look at whether prompt access to quality representation affects legal and social outcomes for defendants in misdemeanors in the two African nations. Instead, we offer a discussion on the Lab’s first global project, the intentions of the study and its progress through January this year, and the lessons learned from both an international project and the discontinuation of the study.
More bankruptcy cases were filed in 2024 than all other civil cases in federal court combined – a factor that should make access to the bankruptcy filing process a priority in the U.S., HLS student Joe Liberman argues in this Student Voices podcast. Part II of this series discusses potential reforms, including changing attorney fee structures, simplifying the bankruptcy process, and making information about legal representation more accessible.
Is the financial reset system too difficult to navigate? In this “Student Voices” episode of Proof Over Precedent, HLS J.D. candidate Joe Liberman discusses the complexities and accessibility issues associated with “no-money-down” bankruptcy filings that often hurt the people who can least afford these particular filings.
A recently launched A2J Lab study examines the effectiveness of an education and community resource-focused program at reducing recidivism among low-level offenders. The results could determine whether the program, already in practice for seven years in Toledo, OH, could be an affordable blueprint for other municipal court systems.
In this “Student Voices” episode of Proof Over Precedent, HLS J.D. candidate Rachel Barkin discusses the challenges faced by pro se litigants in complying with civil procedure rules. While interpretation of legal language may be an obstacle, she argues that “deployability” is the more significant hurdle for self-represented litigants.
In this Proof Over Precedent episode, the third show in the ‘Demystifying IRBs’ series, host Jim Greiner meets with IRB expert Shannon Sewards to answer the tricky question: Who counts as a ‘human subject’? Legal researchers need to know about IRBs and how they define ‘human subjects’ and IRBs need to know about legal research and the role of participants in the studies.
This “Student Voices” episode of Proof Over Precedent discusses the critical need for providing legal representation in civil cases—particularly those in which an individual’s home, family, or safety is at risk. While the right to counsel already extends to criminal cases in both federal and state courts, it does not currently extend to civil cases, where the socioeconomic outcomes often affect women more so than men. HLS LLM Laura Aquino asks why civil cases are not treated with the same level of importance as criminal cases and argues that expanding legal access is a matter of both fairness and justice.
This “Student Voices” episode of Proof Over Precedent discusses the critical need for providing legal representation in civil cases—particularly those in which an individual’s home, family, or safety is at risk. While the right to counsel already extends to criminal cases in both federal and state courts, it does not currently extend to civil cases, where the socioeconomic outcomes often affect women more so than men. HLS LLM Laura Aquino asks why civil cases are not treated with the same level of importance as criminal cases and argues that expanding legal access is a matter of both fairness and justice.
