Teaching Access to Justice with Professor Emily Taylor Poppe
On Tuesday 10 June, the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation (ACJI) at Monash Law hosted a compelling seminar exploring how legal education can better reflect the realities of the civil justice system.
Presented by Professor Emily S. Taylor Poppe, a leading U.S. legal and sociological scholar, the seminar, Teaching Access to Justice, brought together academics, legal professionals, and students for an engaging discussion on rethinking law school teaching.
Each year, a new crop of law students is introduced to the rules of civil procedure, the ethical obligations that structure lawyers’ behavior, and several bodies of substantive law. In U.S. legal education, the federal court system remains the predominate focus, appellate opinions account for the bulk of course materials, and there is almost no consideration of civil legal problems that do not result in formal legal action.
As a result, many students enter the legal profession knowing shockingly little about the true functioning of the civil justice system. Much as the field of public health reveals the efficacy and limitations of the medical system, the field of access to justice offers important insights about the empirical realities of the civil justice system.
Professor Taylor Poppe, from the University of California, Irvine School of Law, reflected on the need to integrate these lessons into the law school curriculum. She shared insights from her recent book, Access to Justice: An Introduction, which is the first U.S. coursebook focused on the field. She argued that traditional legal education, particularly in the United States, often emphasises appellate court opinions and federal procedure while neglecting the everyday civil legal issues most people face.
Drawing on her background in both law and sociology, she made the case for embedding access to justice content more deeply into legal education, equipping future lawyers to address systemic inequities and better serve diverse communities.
Professor Taylor Poppe currently serves as Faculty Director of the UCI Law Initiative for Inclusive Civil Justice. Her visit offered Monash staff and students a valuable opportunity to reflect on the purpose and direction of legal training in Australia and beyond.
Speaker
Professor Emily Taylor Poppe
Professor Taylor Poppe is Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law and (by courtesy) Professor of Sociology. She serves as the Faculty Director of the UCI Law Initiative for Inclusive Civil Justice. Her scholarship is focused on inequalities in access to civil justice and draws on her training in both law and sociology.
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