Delivering Legality: Some Proposals for the Direction of Research

This paper visualizes legal services as one of various alternative paths to delivering legality (i.e., the benefits which access to law confers upon actors). It challenges the assumption that deficiencies in access to law can be most effectively remedied by providing the services of lawyers. It suggests that in some cases there are excessive costs of delivering legality through the medium of legal services and that in other cases legal services are insufficient without some admixture of other factors. Among the alternatives considered are (a) modification of rules systems (e.g., no-fault schemes, simplified transactions); (b) modification of institutions for applying rules (e.g., departures from the court model by making institutions simple, mediative, proactive, private, etc.); (c) enhancement of the capabilities of the parties (personal competence, organizational capacity to utilize legal services, etc.). It is argued that lack of capability of parties poses the most fundamental barrier to access and that upgrading of party capability holds the greatest promise for promoting access to legality. Evidence is adduced for the proposition that organizational structure is a key factor in determining the ability of parties to utilize the legal system. Alternative ways in which various interests can attain the benefits of organization are considered. Finally, research possibilities associated with these themes are sketched.