Rebecca Sandefur is an academic sociologist and Associate Professor of Sociology and Law at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. She is also a faculty fellow at the American Bar Foundation, where she founded and leads the Foundation’s access to justice research initiative. Her goal is to expand access to civil justice for everybody, so that people and communities can live safe, healthy, flourishing lives. Rebecca’s research focuses on inequality, particularly as it relates to law. Her scholarship includes investigations of work and inequality in the legal profession and other professional occupations, lawyers’ pro bono service and its contributions to legal aid, and studies of ordinary people’s experiences with common problems that could bring them into contact with the civil justice system.
Legalweek panelists Rebecca Sandefur, Vice Chief Justice Ann Timmer, Andrew Arruda, and Justice Deno Himonas share highlights from their panel discussion on current reforms that aim to enable greater access to justice.
Rebecca Sandefur talks about why people don't ask lawyers or courts for assistance with their problems, how civilians can properly obtain legal help, and much more.
Rebecca Sandefur discusses her research into digital access to justice tools and how they seek to innovate these tools in order to empower people to understand and act on their legal problems.
