Justice: Greater Access, Lower Costs

This study explicitly elucidates the relationship between litigation and access to justice. In considering access issues, this study shows that the effects of policies affecting parties’ litigation decisions partially depart from those in the standard literature. For instance, increasing parties’ litigation costs does not necessarily promote settlement. Rather, the effects depend on the elasticity of the demand for legal remedies. Furthermore, even while pushing litigation, enhancing access to justice is efficient as long as the claimant’s marginal propensity to litigate is smaller than the social opportunity-cost of access to justice. This finding offers further insight into the suitability of litigation subsidization