A collaborative study by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) and the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), and funded by the Bohemian Foundation asked 10,000 people across the U.S. about legal problems that they experienced within the past 4 years; how they resolved these problems; and the fairness of resolution outcomes.

The nationwide Justice Needs survey offers insight into experiences with more than a dozen legal problem types across a range of socio-demographic groups. The findings reveal disproportionate experiences of legal problems based on race, age, gender, income, ethnicity and other factors. The study also reveals that annually, 55 million Americans experience 260 million legal problems. Of the survey respondents who experienced at least one legal problem in the past four years, fewer than 50% reported that their problem had been completely resolved.

“Justice Needs and Satisfaction in the United States of America 2021: Legal Problems in Daily Life” by IAALS and HiiL is available online here: https://iaals.du.edu/projects/us-justice-needs.