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When the courthouse is open but
the path is too expensive
Access to justice is not only about open courts.
It is about whether people can afford the path long enough to use them.
Published: 13 May 2026 | Reviewed: 13 May 2026
(3-minute read)
The courthouse can be open, and justice can still be out of reach.
Not because the door is shut.
Because the path is too expensive to walk.
That is the part we rarely say plainly.
People are not always shut out of justice.
Sometimes they are priced out, one reasonable step at a time.
They may be right.
But being right is not the same as being able to keep going.
The loss often starts long before anyone reaches a courtroom.
A dispute often starts with something ordinary.
A home.
A business.
A contract.
A building defect.
An unpaid invoice.
A broken promise.
Most people do not start down this path looking for a fight.
They want the problem fixed.
They want the damage stopped.
They want what is fair.
Then the legal steps begin.
A letter.
A reply.
A timetable.
A report.
Another report.
A mediation.
More documents.
More advice.
More preparation, just in case.
More money.
Each step may sound reasonable.
That is the trap.
The cost does not usually arrive as one giant bill.
It grows as a chain of reasonable next steps.
Each next step becomes harder to afford.
And harder to refuse.
By the time the full cost becomes clear, a person may already be too far in.
Money has been spent.
Positions have hardened.
Experts may have been briefed.
Settlement may still be possible.
Trial preparation may still be running.
Stopping feels dangerous.
Continuing feels impossible.
So they face the cruel choice.
Pay more than they can bear.
Or walk away from the right they came to enforce.
This is not only a problem for people with no money.
It hits small business owners.
It hits families.
It hits homeowners.
It hits people with savings, but not endless savings.
People who can afford to start, but cannot afford to last.
That is the hidden failure.
They are not turned away at the courthouse door.
They are worn down before they get there.
The system still looks open.
The case can keep moving on paper.
Settlement may arrive after preparation has swallowed much of the dispute.
Changing course can feel like losing everything already spent.
Bill by bill.
Step by step.
The courthouse remains open.
But by then, the person has already been priced out.
By Nicky Wang
Principal Solicitor
Further reading
If the problem is structural, the safeguards also need to be structural.
Why Two Lawyers Often Cost Less Than One
How role separation can make cost exposure visible before it expands.
Two-Lawyer Collaboration & Escrow Oversight Statement
How independent cost oversight, settlement support and escrow authority can operate without interfering with courtroom advocacy.