From my time at a family law boutique firm, I learned that legal processes can cost individuals a lot of time and money. Access to justice is a problem across all areas of law, but the issue is particularly apparent in family law. The era of the pandemic, while a horrible time for many, was helpful in terms of access to justice in the field of family law. More and more services are offered online, such as motion hearings, ‘To Be Spoken To’ court, mediations, and arbitrations. This saves the already financially struggling client from having to take a day off from work to appear in court. These technological changes also address the root issues faced by clients who need to commute long distances to arrive for their court appearance (and with these gas prices, we all need a bit of help!) More importantly, virtual appearances save the client the burden of having to pay exponential legal fees for their lawyer’s transportation costs, and idle time spent waiting to be heard by the Judge.
Also, the push for more online services has led to a decrease in cost for many services including process servers, printing, in-person filing expenses, and overall lawyer time. Both lawyers and clients no longer feel the need to have in-person meetings. Instead, most have now transitioned to phone calls and Zoom meetings. This shift has naturally made clients more aware of the time they are spending with the lawyer and thus, has pushed both parties to get straight to the point.
Another way the pandemic era has aided family law, with its rise of integrating technology in the legal field, is by equipping individuals with the tools to access the self-representation route. During my time at the boutique firm, I had the opportunity to talk to lawyers about their experience pre- and post-pandemic, but more importantly, I was able to talk to a few clients, potential clients, and people who were calling to inquire about consultations and fees. From those interactions I was able to hear about how pre-pandemic, when a client felt that the legal fees were racking up beyond the point of affordability, they felt trapped and hopeless, thinking that this meant their battle for custody, support, parenting time, or other legal issues, was over. Now, post-pandemic, with the rise of technology and online services, people who feel they can no longer afford a lawyer, while they do still feel a level of hopelessness (especially if their previous spouse/partner continues to have legal representation), are overall less intimidated by the self-representation route.
The rise of technology in the family law field has not been all sunshine and rainbows, however. A disadvantage is perhaps the plethora of online resources, guides, aids, questionnaires, etc. While the move over to using more technology has aided many elements of access to justice in the area of family law, it has also indirectly overwhelmed the field and inevitably pushed people, who were hoping to save money, back to feeling like they need to hire a lawyer. While technological advancements in family law have promised a more accessible route to justice, the best resources for a particular legal issue need to be streamlined to avoid overwhelming the self-represented litigant, or anyone who is struggling financially and hoping to enter the self-representation path.
Super interesting post – and you may be intrigued by this initiative https://www.familylawportal.com/ – done in collaboration with Neota. It would be so helpful to have one starting point for people navigating the family law system, instead of many fragmented sources of information. People are working on solving that problem, but there’s a long way to go. Maybe you will help figure it out!
And this is an announcement on the Family Law Portal, which you might find interesting too: https://www.neotalogic.com/legal-innovation-zone-launches-family-law-portal/
Great blog post! I think you have touched on a really important point about how saturated the market is for family law resources. I have noticed that there are a lot of different apps out there that can help with similar issues. I hope that technology can adapt in a way to organize and compile these resources in one space for users to access.
This was a great post! It made me think about the impact of having easier processes in the family law context. I imagine people going through a legal family issue are going through a heavy time. Having to go to a lawyer’s office and spend huge amounts of money can’t help that feeling. I know for myself if I had to deal with custody or a divorce – even if I used a lawyer, I would want to understand what’s going on. Having really good and accessible resources I’m sure, empowers people going through a tough situation.
Oh I absolutely cannot agree with you more! I think the one of area of law I have been so happy to see change is family! Family law is one most often used by low-income families. Hearing about more family law firms adopting tech to increase access to justice gives me so much hope. I strongly believe legal tech is the way to solve access to justice and that by adopting legal tech every chance we get we can continue helping the most negatively impacted by the justice system.
Interesting thoughts! I definitely agree that technology and online services really do help with access to justice. It’s ironic that technology can be so helpful, but at the same time it can create additional issues. I didn’t really consider the fact that having too many resources or online services may further confuse individuals with a legal issue, including a family issue. This could be a good idea for an app — where users had a one-stop shop for their family issues, which could set out the process, what options the user may have, and potential resources. I think this would help people who have legal issues and will provide them with the necessary support, and minimize confusion and stress levels.
This was a great blog post. I can definitely relate to some of these circumstances, especially having to take off work or school to go to court. In 2L, I was summoned to be a witness in an Ontario court, but was in Kamloops. I was able to attend remotely via Zoom. I ended up being dismissed moments before the scheduled start time. If not for the some of the recent changes, I potentially would have had to travel back to Ontario just to be dismissed.
I really liked this post. I agree with a lot of the points. The pandemic introduced a lot of interesting and new ways of doing “old”, traditional ways of law. Introducing Zoom was important. I think it made those who have to attend court realize how much money they can save in terms of time and money. As you said, gas, driving and not having to take a day off of work are crucial for many persons that have to attend court. This is particularly true if they have little children who need babysitting.
In terms of the information on the internet and individuals that are representing themselves, maybe the plethora of information is more benficial than not? I understand that it can be overwhelming but it could be said that it is more advantageous to those that cannot afford a lawyer. At least they can find what they need to. But again, you are right, it requires a lot of filtering and critical thinking to correctly assess what is relevant and what is not.
Also, interestingly, there is so much information on the internet now, but what about those that were representing themselves before the explosion of the internet? Before “Google” – where did these self-representing individuals find this information? The library? How time consuming.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed your post and I wrote something very similar in my reflection!