Rebecca Sandefur, a sociologist and researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has spent years considering a question that鈥檚 central to the American legal system: Does everyone facing legal issues need a lawyer?
She has found that, especially for everyday matters, many people would benefit more from what she likes to call the 鈥渏ust resolution鈥 of legal problems. 鈥淎cross a number of common justice problems,鈥 she wrote in a recent article, 鈥渘onlawyer advocates and unrepresented lay people have been observed to perform as well or better than lawyers.鈥
In October, she was awarded for her work on this topic. She also coedited the latest edition of Daedalus, the journal of the 亚色影库app. Its 24 essays, among other questions, address reframing the politics around justice for the poor, the need for evidence-based solutions and a renewed call for greater resources for the Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit that funds legal aid for low-income people.