Publication Date
2025
Abstract
Individuals do not vindicate the majority of their legal claims because of access to justice barriers. This entrenched state of affairs is now facing a disruption. Lawyers and non-lawyers alike are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) tools to perform legal tasks-tools that sharply reduce the costs of generating legal materials. There is finally hope that AI might allow many more to access justice.
Paradoxically, what we gain in access to justice we might lose in the delivery of justice. The problem is not that AI tools are ineffective. Indeed, they are even more effective than most realize-affecting every stage of the naming, blaming, and claiming process. The problem is that this change necessarily increases the volume and verbosity of the caseload thus threatening judicial economy; the balance of scarce judicial resources in relation to shifts in demand for legal services.
Historically, judges and legislatures have often met challenges to judicial economy by adjusting "legal thermostats": ad-hoc adaptations to procedural rules and even substantive doctrines meant to curb the flow of litigation. But these adaptations invariably imply the shrinking of substantive rights. We run the risk, then, that litigants who finally gain access to justice will find narrow rights and stringent administrative procedures. To avoid this trajectory, I advocate a proactive framework of AI integration. Instead of fighting a losing battle against the symptoms of AI adoption by litigants, the legal system should integrate AI tools to enhance and scale up the legal process itself By thoughtfully and carefully incorporating these tools, we can ensure that we reap the fruits of greater access to justice, even in the face of a rapidly expanding caseload.
Recommended Citation
Yonathan A. Arbel, Judicial Economy in the Age of AI, 96 U. COLO. L. REV. 549 (2025).