Project

Civil Legal System Modernization

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Civil Legal System Modernization
Each year, more than 30 million Americans encounter civil legal problems without the help of a lawyer. Many of the issues these individuals face, such as debt collection, eviction, foreclosure, child custody, and guardianship claims, can have profound, even life-changing, implications.

Outside of the criminal courts, litigants have no constitutional right to a lawyer, and affordable legal help is hard to come by. This lack of available support forces millions of people each year to sift through forms, search websites, and show up to court with little or no assistance. Often this leads to delays and increased costs for courts and litigants, as well as procedural errors that can cause cases to be decided without all parties having their day in court.

Many civil legal professionals, including judges and attorneys, as well as litigants, have noted that the system must be made more open, efficient, and equitable. However, no consensus exists regarding what courts or local and state policymakers can or should do to accomplish those goals.

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ civil legal system modernization project seeks to address this problem and to support efforts to deliver a system that is more accessible and effective through three key pathways:

  • Identify and promote policies, processes, and technologies that can improve outcomes for civil litigants.
  • Collaborate with state and local court officials to implement solutions and measure progress.
  • Build partnerships with the private sector, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advance comprehensive improvement to the civil legal system.
Image depicting a virtual screen with a judge in the top box, a man in a suit labeled Plaintiff in the bottom left box, and a black box on the bottom right with a telephone icon, labeled Defendant.
Image depicting a virtual screen with a judge in the top box, a man in a suit labeled Plaintiff in the bottom left box, and a black box on the bottom right with a telephone icon, labeled Defendant.
Report

Courts Embraced Technology and Adapted Their Operations

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Report

The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 forced public services to shift to online operations in a matter of weeks. For the nation’s courts, that meant reimagining how to administer justice. Media coverage has focused mainly on the effects of the digital transformation in criminal courts, but a rapid deployment of new technology also took place in the civil legal system.

Debt Collectors
Report

How Debt Collectors Are Transforming State Courts

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Report

The business of state civil courts has changed over the past three decades. In 1990, a typical civil court docket featured cases with two opposing sides, each with an attorney, most frequently regarding commercial matters and disputes over contracts, injuries, and other harms.

OUR WORK

Civil Court Modernization Toolkit

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U.S. civil court staff and leaders support using data to modernize their policies and processes to better serve litigants. But the courts were designed for attorneys, so updating them to function well for the majority of today’s users—most of whom do not have lawyers—is a major undertaking.

The Pandemic's Impact on America’s Civil Courts
The Pandemic's Impact on America’s Civil Courts
Podcast

The Pandemic's Impact on America's Civil Courts

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Podcast

Debt collection cases are the most common civil court cases today, but many Americans are navigating the civil legal system without legal representation and paying heavy consequences. In this episode we hear from Erika Rickard, who leads Pew’s work to modernize civil court systems.