Legal reform is more than just a movement to lower the cost of legal services. It is a way to ensure that those who need help, and the most vulnerable in our communities, get it, not just for financial reasons but because they deserve a fair shot at justice. This is why the AILA Law Journal is publishing this series of articles on reform, to shine a light on changes that are slowly transforming the legal profession.
In open societies, actual social force exerted on a particular issue is typically much less than the potential social force that could be brought to bear. This explains why scandals, incidents and ‘horror stories’ are such powerful but often understudied catalysts for sociolegal change (Martin W. Sybblis, Law, Growth and the Identity Hurdle, 95 TUL. L. REV. 867, 2021).
The same logic can apply to formal or overt aspects of the law, such as changing divorce laws to make them easier to obtain or allowing nonlawyers to represent clients in certain types of cases. In these instances, however, a reform’s effect can be more than just changing the law on paper; it can alter an entire operating system of the legal system in the process.
This is why structural reforms that seek to re-make the law, such as adding new Justices or stripping the Court of jurisdiction in certain areas, are so dangerous. Once one party in Congress is able to create a Supreme Court that is more determinate on certain issues, it can be very difficult to reverse the change without bringing on a whole new political battle.