Access to Justice and Putting People First

The legal system exists to serve people. Yet, for many, especially those from marginalized communities, it is seen as an intimidating, inaccessible, and even alienating institution. During Access to Justice Week, legal professionals and justice system innovators came together as part of the Reimagining Justice Through User-Centered Principles webinar to explore how user-centered (or “person-centered”) design could be used to reshape legal services, making them more accessible and responsive to the needs of the public. To launch the Access to Justice Committee’s new column in BarTalk, we reiterate some key themes that emerged from this important discussion moderated by Sarah McCoubrey, Director of Indigenous Justice Centre Transformation at the BC First Nations Justice Council (BCFNJC).

What is Person-Centered Justice?

In practical terms, legal systems are often shaped according to the needs of legal professionals rather than the needs of the public. Person-centered justice shifts this focus by prioritizing accessibility, responsiveness, and care for individuals navigating legal processes. Instead of forcing people to conform to rigid and complex procedures, person-centered justice transforms systems to meet people where they are — by simplifying procedures, providing holistic support for legal and non-legal problems, and making constant improvements to better understand and respond to people’s needs. Person-centered justice is about making legal systems clearer, more supportive, and easier for people to navigate.

The Pillars: Care, Responsiveness and Accessibility

Dr. Andrew Pilliar, an Associate Professor at Thompson Rivers University, described three pillars to person-centered justice: care, responsiveness and accessibility. These values ensure that legal processes acknowledge the challenges users face, adapt to their needs, and provide meaningful pathways to resolution.

Dr. Pilliar emphasized that care for individuals must be at the heart of justice reform. He explained that the best lawyers are those who genuinely care about their clients’ outcomes and who are responsive to their clients’ needs. In his eyes, person-centered justice demands that the same principles be applied at a systemic level, so that the system is attentive and responsive to the outcomes that matter to people. He stressed the importance of ongoing research and feedback loops to ensure that reforms are actually benefiting people, and that they are reaching those with unmet legal needs: “Responsiveness calls for wanting to know on an ongoing basis what works and adjusting things that don’t... And we have to be responsive, not just to those existing users of legal systems, but rather to think about whole population approaches to understand [why] people turn away from the legal system or never turn to it in the first place.”

Centering Compassion, Dignity and Connection

Angie Still, Client Navigator Lead at the BCFNJC, described person-centered justice as a model that prioritizes compassion, dignity and human connection. She highlighted the importance of wraparound supports and “warm referrals,” where clients are personally connected to the services they need, rather than being left to navigate the system alone. In Still’s words: “The work we do here at BCFNJC is not just about legal cases. It’s about people, it’s about dignity. It’s about making sure no one feels alone in their fight for justice.”

Still’s experience working with the BCFNJC’s Indigenous Justice Centres (IJCs) offered a powerful case-study of person-centered justice.¹ Some of the person-centered features of IJCs include:

• Wraparound support services, including access to Elders, outreach workers and legal advocacy specialists.
• A focus on responding to client’s lived realities and providing culturally safe and trauma-informed services.
• Offering legal and non-legal support, recognizing that issues like housing, mental health, and employment are often intertwined with justice concerns from a client’s perspective.

Continuous Feedback and Adaptation

Zach Zarnow, the Deputy Managing Director at the National Center for State Courts, highlighted that person-centered justice requires a shift in mindset, moving from static legal structures to adaptive, data-driven solutions. He pointed out that courts and legal professionals must be willing to test new approaches, discard ineffective practices, and listen to users’ experiences. But measurement is key, as without real-time feedback from individuals navigating the legal system, improvements risk being theoretical rather than impactful.

Zarnow shared many examples of small changes with outsized impacts, including the National Center for State Courts’ “Forms Camps”²  — a program that trains courts to redesign legal forms through plain language, usability testing, and accessibility improvements. He explained how small, intentional changes to forms — such as clearer instructions and simplified language — could significantly reduce procedural errors and enhance user confidence.

Zarnow emphasized that our legal system should evolve based on the needs and lived realities of the people it serves, rather than relying on outdated legal traditions. But to ensure that people’s needs are being met as changes are implemented, person-centered justice demands continuous feedback and adaptation: “The way to do this well is to be responsive to the needs of your community by continuously checking with your community… And building that feedback loop in, I think, is a first principle for being user-centered.”

A Call to Action

Reimagining access to justice through user-centered principles is not just about making the legal system more efficient — it is about making it work for, and care for, the public it exists to serve. A recurring theme in this conversation is the need for those of us working within the system to let go of outdated practices that no longer serve the public effectively, and to open our minds to new ways of doing things that may be more responsive to the needs of the public. Another recurring theme is the need to collect data directly from the people who use our legal systems (and those who are excluded from them), so that we can begin to build the critical feedback loops that person-centered justice reforms depend on.

The Access to Justice Committee looks forward to continuing the conversation about person-centered justice reform in future issues of BarTalk.

1. See also Kelsie Kilawna, “Transforming Justice Through Indigenous Laws and Kinship,” BarTalk (December 1, 2024)
2. National Center for State Courts, “Forms Camp”.