How Technology Can Help Solve the Access to Justice Crisis
The statistic is startling: 92 percent of Americans can't afford legal help for their civil justice problems. It's a figure both Bridget McCormack and Verna Williams cite without hesitation, and it defines the crisis they've spent their careers trying to solve.
McCormack, CEO and president of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, frames it bluntly. "The civil justice system is a massive market failure. If folks don't see it that way, then they're not looking."
Williams, CEO of Equal Justice Works, the nation's largest facilitator of postgraduate legal fellowships, sees the human cost daily. "Some scholars estimate that 150 million legal issues go unresolved every single year," she said. "We've got to do something about that."
Both leaders have joined Everlaw's newly formed Everlaw for Good Advisory Board, convinced that solving the access to justice crisis requires collaboration beyond the legal profession, and that technology, particularly artificial intelligence, might finally offer the breakthrough they've been waiting for.
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A System Designed for a World That No Longer Exists
The problem runs deeper than lack of resources. The entire structure of the American legal system hasn't kept pace with technological change
"While we have undergone four industrial revolutions, the legal system hasn't really updated its operating system at all," McCormack explained. "A system that was designed to make sense for a one-to-one model where everybody had a lawyer who could help them navigate the legal system, that's not the world we live in anymore."
The mismatch creates real harm. In civil proceedings such as evictions, child custody terminations, or wage theft for example, there is no right to an attorney. The stakes are enormous, but representation is not guaranteed.
"Child custody is termed the death penalty of civil law," Williams noted. "Yet, there is no right of representation and sadly too many people are not represented in those proceedings. As a result, they have very bad outcomes."
"Too many people just don't get the help they need and it's really an all hands on deck situation."
The scarcity of public interest lawyers makes the problem worse. According to the American Bar Association, less than one percent of the over one million lawyers in this country do public interest work.
"The math is just not adding up," Williams said. "Not enough lawyers, too many problems, and a growing precarious economic situation in the country."
Why This Matters Right Now
The need for legal assistance is accelerating. More people are living on economic margins, where a single medical crisis or unexpected expense can trigger an avalanche of legal problems.
"Consider somebody who is very ill. They go to the doctor, they may have cancer, they have to endure medical treatments that cost a lot of money," Williams explained. "If they can't pay their medical bills, they may find themselves pursued by debt collectors, they may be unable to pay their rent and get evicted. Economic problems can lead to an avalanche of legal problems for which people need assistance."
McCormack puts it in terms that should resonate beyond the legal profession. "Most small and medium businesses can't afford legal help. One legal problem can put them under. That's the greatest threat to the rule of law I know."
She uses a pointed analogy to illustrate how normalized this crisis has become. "Imagine if you said to everybody in America, ‘Sure, you can use the highway, but you just have to pay this driver to take you on it.’ Sure, you can use the highway, but you just have to pay this driver to take you on it. People would lose their minds. Yet we have gotten away with doing that in the legal system for many decades now."
Technology as a Breakthrough, Not a Band-Aid
Both leaders see generative AI as potentially transformative, but only if deployed thoughtfully.
"Technology and generative AI in particular is perhaps the most exciting potential breakthrough we've had," McCormack said. "We now have a way to scale information and scale access to solutions that we can't do in a one-to-one human service model."
"The technology's there. We have to get the humans there. I'm really excited and believe we can change the world."
At AAA, McCormack's team has already built an AI arbitrator, an 80-agent process for document-only construction cases, with a human-in-the-loop. The goal is to provide consistent, reliable dispute resolution at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional processes.
"You can build brand new ways of resolving disputes that have no barriers, that are significantly less expensive and more reliable," she explained.
Williams approaches AI with both enthusiasm and caution. "I see technology as one of many tools that we need to deploy in this situation," she said. "I'm a “yes, and” person when it comes to access to justice. Let's use all the tools that we can to address this problem."
She's seen technology deployed to the detriment of underserved communities, so her involvement with Everlaw for Good centers on ensuring AI serves the public good. "I want to make sure that we are using this very important tool in a way that benefits society and particularly those people in the society that need the protection the most."
For legal aid organizations already stretched thin, AI can help with intake, triaging claims, and allowing attorneys to handle more cases efficiently. "AI is a tool that helps attorneys to work more efficiently, and everybody wants that," Williams noted. "If they're more efficient, they can handle more cases, they can dispose of matters more efficiently."
Why Business Leaders Need to Care
McCormack believes technology companies like Everlaw have both the capability and the incentive to address this crisis.
"I don't think that the access to justice crisis that we are living with is one that lawyers can solve alone," she said. "Business leaders care about the rule of law. The rule of law is fundamental to a functioning economy."
Technology companies can move faster than traditional legal institutions. "They have the talent, the knowledge, and the infrastructure to be able to build a better future for a woefully underserved population," McCormack explained.
That's why she's excited about Everlaw's approach. "Technology business leaders have an open lane to make a big impact. Everlaw has been thinking about this and strategizing about how to be part of a solution in a way that I wish I could see across the tech industry."
What Everlaw for Good Can Do
Both leaders see the advisory board as a convening force, connecting people who've worked on access to justice for years with new partners and resources.
"Everlaw for Good can be a convener, it can be a leader, it can be a voice, and it can connect the folks who have been working on the access to justice crisis for a long time to new partners and to collaborators," McCormack said. "We've been talking about it within the legal profession for a long time, and even trying to build new solutions, but we're not going to be able to do it on our own."
Williams sees alignment between Everlaw for Good and Equal Justice Works' founding story. In 1986, law students looking for public interest jobs created what became Equal Justice Works. Nearly 40 years later, the organization facilitates fellowships and expands host organization capacity.
"In that spirit, I see Everlaw for Good as a potentially innovative solution to really make a difference," Williams said. "Who knows, 40 years from now we could be talking about how launching initiatives like Everlaw for Good really turned things around in providing assistance to people who need it and, in so doing, supported the rule of law, supported democracy, and helped us to realize the promise of our Constitution."
McCormack is equally optimistic. "What most excites me about the Everlaw for Good program is the leadership role that we see a technology company in the legal space taking for improving the civil justice system. It is a good that everybody will benefit from."
The Path Forward
The access to justice crisis won't be solved by any single approach. It requires more lawyers, regulatory reform to allow trained laypeople to provide limited assistance, increased funding for legal aid organizations, and yes, thoughtfully deployed technology.
"I don't think that the access to justice crisis that we are living with is one that lawyers can solve alone."
"Public interest organizations could use volunteer help, pro bono help, they could use more dollars frankly, more donations, they could use fellows," Williams said. "Technology, of course, is part of this. They could use your help in developing the technological tools to make their work go better."
McCormack believes the technological capability exists now. The challenge is bringing people along. "The technology's there. We have to get the humans there. I'm really excited and believe we can change the world."
For both leaders, the urgency is clear. The legal system was designed for a world where everyone had a lawyer. That world is gone. Either the system adapts, or the rule of law, the foundation of democracy and economic stability, erodes further.
As Williams put it: "Too many people just don't get the help they need and it's really an all hands on deck situation."
