Ep 080: Sociologist Rebecca Sandefur on Enhancing Access to Justice

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sociologist</span> <a href= "https://thesanfordschool.asu.edu/content/rebecca-sandefur"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Rebecca Sandefur</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">is one of the world’s leading scholars on access to justice. Professor at the Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, she is also a</span> <a href= "http://www.americanbarfoundation.org/faculty/profile/31"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> faculty fellow</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">at the American Bar Foundation, where she founded and leads the Access to Justice Research Initiative. In 2018, she was</span> <a href= "https://www.macfound.org/fellows/1022/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">named a recipient</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">of a MacArthur “genius grant” for her work promoting an evidence-based approach to increasing access to justice for low-income communities. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the wake of Washington state’s</span> <a href= "https://www.lawsitesblog.com/2020/06/washington-state-that-pioneered-licensed-legal-technicians-cancels-the-program.html"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">decision to sunset</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">its pioneering Limited License Legal Technicians program, host Bob Ambrogi asks Sandefur about that program, which she</span> <a href= "http://www.americanbarfoundation.org/uploads/cms/documents/preliminary_evaluation_of_the_washington_state_limited_license_legal_technician_program_032117.pdf"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">evaluated in a 2017 report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and about other programs in which those other than lawyers provide legal assistance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They also discuss access to justice more broadly, including the scope and causes of the justice gap, the obstacles to bridging it, the impact of race and class on access to justice, what works and what does not to close the gap, and why regula