Celebrating the “Null” Finding: Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Access to Legal Services, by Jenna Charn

Jeanne Charn, a pioneer in clinical legal education who teaches at Harvard Law School, just published a startling article in the Yale Law Journal about the Civil Gideon movement and reform of courts to support expanded self help. “We should measure improved access to legal services by the extent to which self-empowered consumers are able to resolve everyday legal problems on their own or with limited assistance,” Charn argues. The surprise: with significant caveats, among the few studied types of claims, litigants with access to representation were no more likely to reach favorable outcomes than pro se litigants were.

Jenna Charn, Celebrating the “Null” Finding: Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Access to Legal Services, 122 Yale L.J. 2206 (2013).

 

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