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There Is No Such Thing As Litigation: Access To Justice And The Realities Of Adjudication, Robert Rubinson
There Is No Such Thing As Litigation: Access To Justice And The Realities Of Adjudication, Robert Rubinson
All Faculty Scholarship
Does a "contest by judicial process" describe litigation's "means and applications"? Overwhelmingly, no. Litigation is not about judges: it is about default judgments, settlements, plea bargains. It sometimes does not even involve judges at all. Litigation is not about trials: the amount of litigation that goes to trial is infinitesimal. It is not about "process": the process is so minimal that to dignify it with that term stretches the word beyond recognition. It is not a "contest": it is an exercise where one side has no plausible chance of winning, especially since that side either has no lawyers or lawyers …