Big Data and the Demand for Court and Legal Services

Abstract

Law and Economics literature has dealt with the factors determining the demand side of justice for more than 40 years. Both theorists of economic analysis and applied researchers have focused on the different variables that influence demand, such as direct and indirect costs, the chances of winning, the chances to settle out of court and delay, among others, which in turn may be affected by the judges, lawyers and parties incentives. Many of these variables cannot be directly observed by the ordinary citizen. In this paper, we contribute to the Law and Economics literature by showing that Big Data must be considered a new way to approach demand for court and legal services as it introduces new criteria to take into account and a new way to make the decision of whether or not to proceed to trial.