Professor Sukhsimranjit Singh, “Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution Across Cultures” — Fordham Law Review (forthcoming)

Professor Sukhsimranjit Singh's article, "Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution Across Cultures," will be published in the Fordham Law Review (forthcoming 2020). The article examines how economically and culturally distinct groups experience and access justice in the courts, and the barriers mandatory arbitration consumers may face as they privately resolve disputes.

Abstract of "Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution Across Cultures"

In the United States, there is a saying that, "The justice one receives, is the justice one can afford." All too often, this saying holds true for low- and middle-income individuals. For the underprivileged and most economically vulnerable groups, the access to justice crisis is twofold–without a firm knowledge of their rights or the legal system, they seldom know when legal intervention is required and also whether the legal assistance they received is adequate, reliable, and affordable.

Middle-income individuals face a different challenge: they surpass the income threshold for free civil public legal aid, but they cannot afford the rising costs of conventional litigation. Barriers to justice continue to exist for groups across racial, gender, cultural lines. In this article, I consider the challenges faced by low-income individuals, LGBTQ groups, women, and communities of color as distinctive members of our multicultural society that typically experience imperfect access to justice. I also examine whether modalities within ADR may serve to improve access to justice for the above-mentioned communities.