Following up on my latest “banned words” post last month, which was a reminder of what not to say when we talk about access to justice, we turn now to some tips for how we should talk about these issues, with the recent release of the new IAALS Justice Narrative Project to help guide the way.
As a legal community, we need to take the lead in making the case for access to justice at all levels of government and in the broader community, and there are some practical steps we can take to do it more effectively.
The Justice Narrative Project identified four shared values that resonate across varying audiences and establish a framework for messaging around access to justice:
“Fairness
Every person deserves a fair chance to resolve the problems that affect their life, their home, their family, their livelihood, and their safety. Fairness means the process for resolving disputes is transparent, understandable, and accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford a lawyer or who know how the system works. It means that the law is applied evenly, and that outcomes are determined on the merits, not by who has more power or resources.
Opportunity
When people resolve their legal problems, they can move forward. They can stabilize their home, family, or income, and build toward a better future. A civil justice system that works is not just about resolving disputes; it is about preserving and creating opportunity. It is about ensuring that a single legal problem does not become a cascading crisis that derails a person’s stability.
Community
Civil justice impacts communities, not just individuals. When a family loses their home to an eviction, the entire neighborhood feels the ripple effects. When people can’t resolve family disputes fairly, children and communities bear the cost. A functioning civil justice system strengthens the fabric of community life, and everyone has a stake in making it work.
Economy
A functioning civil justice system supports a strong and stable economy. When people can resolve legal problems quickly and fairly, they are able to work, maintain housing, and contribute to their communities. When they cannot, the costs ripple outward, reducing productivity, increasing reliance on public services, and weakening local economies. Investing in civil justice helps prevent avoidable crises and delivers lasting economic value.”
Underpinning our messaging with these core values is just the start of communicating effectively, and here are some other key points to keep in mind as you talk about access to justice:
Know Your Audience and Why They Care (or Should Care)
The first step in effective communication is understanding who you are talking to. How much do they already know about these issues, and why should they care?
If you are talking to a judge who regularly sees the consequences of most litigants in their courtroom being unrepresented, you may not need to add much context for why access to justice is so important to them. However, when you are talking to a legislator with no legal experience or connection to the legal community, providing that context will be critical to getting your message across.
Simplify!
In an increasingly complex world where we often feel overwhelmed by the volume of communications we receive (emails, texts, reminders, social media, etc.), one of the most important steps we can take to communicate effectively is to keep it simple and use plain language whenever possible.
Let’s face it: this does not come easy to most of us who are lawyers, where our default setting is to explain everything and be precise above all else. That may make good sense for our legal work, but not so much when we communicate to broader audiences.
Think about the way you would make your case to a jury as opposed to how you might frame an appellate brief. Or how you would explain this work to friends or family with no connection to the law versus legal aid lawyers on the front lines of ensuring access to justice.
It has taken me a long time to get there, but when people ask what I/we do at the CBF today, I say something along the lines of “we help people who can’t afford legal help, which is most people in our community.” If I am talking to lawyers or other legal professionals, I’ll say it slightly differently: “we help people who can’t afford us, which is most people.”
Those answers do not begin to describe all the nuances of how the CBF does that or what makes the CBF unique, but people can readily understand and appreciate what we are trying to do, and I can always then follow up with more specifics tailored to who I am talking to.
That is just one small personal example of how we can simplify our communication, and I recommend the book Smart Brevity from the founders of Axios as a great resource on how we can simplify all of our communications and make them more effective.
Brevity, with Clarity
Beyond simplification, the big theme of Smart Brevity is just what the title suggests and another key tenet of good communication: brevity!
As our attention spans get alarmingly shorter all the time, getting to your point quickly and in an engaging way has never been more important.
That said, the book is called “Smart Brevity” for a reason. Just brevity without necessary context or clarity on why it matters isn’t going to cut it.
There also are many situations where brevity is not the right goal—e.g., good books, longer articles, or posts that require more background or explanation—but even then, people need to be able to understand quickly what this is about and why they should care before reading further. Smart Brevity includes a lot of great practical tips for how we can do this.
Use Stories, Ethically and Effectively
Illustrating your points through good stories about why access to justice matters is perhaps the most important thing we can do to communicate effectively on these issues. Good and ethical storytelling is the subject of whole books and courses, and I am not even going to try to summarize the best practices in this post.
What I will do for now is point you towards a great resource on effectively tapping into storytelling in your work, the Goodman Center. It is well worth your time to check out the free resources on their website and the great trainings they have available both online and in person.
Practice, Adapt, and Practice More
These tips are just some general principles for how we can better communicate about access to justice issues, not a complete playbook. And just like you wouldn’t (I hope) wing it for a major court hearing, negotiation, or trial, there is no substitute for practice and preparation in effective communication. With a modest investment of time, however, we can all be better ambassadors for access to justice, and there is no time like the present for getting started.
As I said in my “Banned Words” post, when we are talking to others in the proverbial access to justice club, these language issues may not seem like they are such a big deal. But if we want to reach the goal of a justice system that is truly fair and accessible for all, our club needs to get a whole lot bigger, and it starts with us to get there.