Page 30 - Pierce County Lawyer - July August 2025

ACCESS TO
JUSTICE:
FROM CRISIS
TO CHANGE
In 2015, the Washington Civil Legal
Needs Study reported that 76 percent
of people with civil legal needs do not
get legal help.1 Of that 76 percent, 11
percent had tried to find legal help but
were unsuccessful. Some of these people
(nearly a third) said they could not afford
to hire a lawyer. Others said they tried to
reach out to a lawyer but either couldn't
get through or their calls were not re-
turned. And some people reported con-
fusion over the information they were
given. Even if a portion of these people
simply have bad cases, that still leaves
hundreds of thousands of Washingto-
nians without the legal support they are
seeking every year. If they can’t afford
help, that’s a problem. If they have a
“bad case,” but no one will explain it
to them in terms they can understand,
that’s also a problem and one we can
and should seek to address.
The access-to-justice crisis is not a
bug; it’s a feature. We got here not by
accident but by design. In the early days
of the legal profession the complexity of
laws and procedures was intentionally
designed to maintain control.2
Legal professionals created intricate
procedural rules and requirements that
made it challenging for individuals
without legal training to navigate the
system. This exclusivity ensured that
only those with resources and knowledge
could effectively access and utilize the
legal system. The legal profession’s role
as a gatekeeper has persisted over time.
Legal organizations and associations,
using their outsized influence, often push
back on changes that would make the
system more accessible to the general
public.
1 “Civil Legal Needs Study Update,” October 2015,
www.courts.wa.gov/disability-justice-task-force/public/
OCLA-2015-Civil-Legal-Needs-Study-Update.pdf.
2 Nora Freeman Engstrom and James Stone, “Auto
Clubs and the Lost Origins of the Access to Justice
Crisis,” The Yale Law Journal 134 (2024), available at
www.yalelawjournal.org/feature/auto-clubs-and-the-
lost-origins-of-theaccess-to-justice-crisis.
3 0 P I E R C E C O U N T Y L A W Y E R | J u l y /A u g u s t 2 0 2 5
BY JORDAN COUCH
BARRIERS TO JUSTICE
People face numerous barriers when
seeking access to the legal system. Court
costs can be prohibitively expensive,
deterring many from pursuing their
cases. For instance, filing fees and other
associated costs can quickly add up,
making it financially unfeasible for
many individuals to seek justice even
if they avoid paying attorney fees. This
financial burden is particularly heavy for
historically and currently marginalized
communities, in which individuals
often lack the resources to afford court
fees. While waivers can sometimes be
requested, that can become yet another
task thrust upon a person who is likely
unfamiliar with the system and is already
going through a crisis.
Procedural rules are often intricate
and confusing, requiring specialized
knowledge to navigate. The legal system
is filled with complex terminology
and procedural requirements that
can be overwhelming for individuals
without legal training. And the failure