Why In-House Lawyers Should Treat Access to Justice as an Operational Risk

What if one of the biggest risks facing your legal department isn’t regulatory or contractual, but structural? In-house lawyers are increasingly asked to manage risk across systems they don’t fully control, and access to justice risk is one of the quietest yet most consequential. When legal processes are slow, expensive, or inaccessible, problems don’t disappear. They compound, often landing on Legal’s desk when they are hardest to solve.

That reality came into focus during a recent conversation with Eric Voogt, a longtime trial lawyer and founder of Proof Technology. His work highlights a truth in-house counsel see every day but rarely name directly: when the legal system itself becomes inefficient, risk increases for everyone involved. Access barriers don’t just affect individuals. They affect companies, courts, and legal teams tasked with managing uncertainty, creating significant access to justice risk.

Watch the full conversation with Eric Voogt:

Access to Justice Is a Risk Signal, Not a Social Issue

In-house lawyers often encounter disputes late in their lifecycle, after positions harden and costs escalate. Yet many of those disputes begin much earlier, when individuals or small entities lack practical access to legal processes, adding to the justice risk. When systems are too complex or expensive to navigate, people delay action, make procedural errors, or abandon claims altogether. That friction creates downstream risk for organizations.

Access to justice risk emerges when legal processes fail to function as intended. If procedural hurdles prevent disputes from being heard on the merits, outcomes become less predictable. For in-house counsel responsible for forecasting exposure, unpredictability is dangerous. Legal risk increases when inefficiencies distort outcomes before substantive law even enters the picture.

Why Process Efficiency Shapes Legal Exposure

One of the most overlooked contributors to access-related risk is procedural inefficiency. Service of process, document handling, and early filings are rarely strategic priorities, yet they determine whether disputes move forward or stall. When these steps are slow or error-prone, timelines stretch and costs rise, sometimes forcing premature settlements or abandoned defenses, all contributing to the justice risk.

Technology plays a critical role here. When lawyers spend less time managing logistics, they gain flexibility to take on matters that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive. For in-house teams, this matters because outside counsel efficiency directly affects budgets, timelines, and strategic options. Reduced friction allows disputes to be resolved on substance rather than attrition while addressing the access to justice risk.

Technology as a Legal Risk Control

Legal technology is often discussed in terms of productivity, but its risk implications are just as important. When technology lowers the cost of participation in legal processes, it improves fairness and predictability. More consistent procedures lead to fewer surprises for Legal and better alignment between risk assessments and outcomes.

For in-house counsel, this is not about replacing judgment with automation. It is about ensuring systems support timely and reliable resolution. Case management tools, AI-assisted document analysis, and streamlined procedural workflows help legal teams identify risk earlier and respond more effectively. Over time, this reduces the buildup of unresolved issues that eventually surface as litigation or regulatory exposure, mitigating access to justice risk.

What In-House Lawyers Can Do Now

In-house lawyers don’t need to own access initiatives to influence outcomes. Asking sharper questions about where disputes stall, which processes inflate costs, and how inefficiencies affect exposure can shift decision-making upstream. Treating access to justice risk as an operational issue reframes technology adoption from convenience to control.

Legal leaders who take this view are better positioned to manage risk proactively. When systems work, Legal retains leverage. When they don’t, risk grows quietly until it becomes impossible to ignore, further highlighting the importance of managing access to justice risk effectively.

Watch the full conversation here:  Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 10, Episode 5 (ft. Eric Voogt)

At Notes to My (Legal) Self®, we’re dedicated to helping in-house legal professionals develop the skills, insights, and strategies needed to thrive in today’s evolving legal landscape. From leadership development to legal operations optimization and emerging technology, we provide the tools to help you stay ahead.

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