QSIDE Colloquium, Molly Coleman, Unrigging the Law: Building Civil Legal Systems that Work 4 People
Channel: QSIDE Institute
Date: 2021-09-30

Corporate America avoids accountability for the harm it causes by shutting workers and consumers out of the justice system entirely. On the rare occasion ordinary people can make it into the courtroom at all, they’re up against the best lawyers money can buy, in front of judges predisposed to side with the wealthy and powerful. Law students are taught—and many lawyers continue to believe—that true justice is achieved through the civil legal system: two parties, equal in the eyes of the law, both with a fair chance, no matter how different their social positions outside the courtroom. But this adversarial system is not working; instead, the legal system is rigged against those most in need of justice. In this talk, I focus on how it is that we got here, what the consequences have been, and how this judicial capture is situated within larger conversations around justice in America. I close with one proposed path forward.