Improving Access to Justice – One State’s Experience

Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode June 17, 2025Civil case filings per capita have been declining nationally for decades. John Greacen and Alan Carlson explained this in their book, What Is Happening to State Trial Court Civil Filings?  The absolute number of civil filings in state courts has increased somewhat, however overall filings have not kept pace with population growth and have been in a long-term decline. Meanwhile, the National Center for State Courts' annual State of the State Courts poll reported that public trust and confidence in the state courts rose in 2024 to 63%. However, this figure has stagnated between 60% and 64% over the past four years.  These troubling numbers raise some important questions: How are people resolving their disputes? How are people now resolving their disputes? Are they, in fact, resolving them at all? One thing is certain: more and more, people are not turning to the courts, the traditional venue for peacefully settling conflict.What can we do about this trend?What can we do about this trend? How can we encourage the public to once again rely on America’s courts to address their issues? This month, we explore how Arizona is tackling the challenge of Access to Justice. Arizona's Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Committee has been working to rebuild public trustand encourage people to return to the courts as a reliable resource for resolving their disputes. Today's PanelThe Honorable Samuel A. Thumma, Judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals Mr. Kip Anderson, Court Administrator for the Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman Arizona, Dr. Kevin Ruegg, Chief Executive Officer for the Arizona Bar FoundationJudge Thumma is Chair of the Arizona Access to Justice Committee; both Dr. Ruegg and Kip Anderson aremembers of that committee. Become part of the Conversation. Submit your comments and questions to [email protected]