Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2023
Publication Title
Brooklyn Law Review
Abstract
This article is the first to identify, name, and empirically measure the pro se gender gap. Drawing on a massive dataset of all federal civil dockets spanning 10 years, it finds a 2-to-1 gender imbalance. For every federal female pro se litigant there are two males. This finding is robust and stable. It holds true for plaintiffs, defendants, and other parties. It is also true across most subject areas, across time, across length of litigation, and across states, districts, and circuits. The study excludes prisoner-rights and habeas petitions (including them would widen the gender gap even further). This gender gap reveals a troubling disparity in who has effective access to justice, whose stories are heard, who shapes the development of the law, and whose rights are vindicated by federal courts. Labeling and measuring the pro se gender gap also provides a benchmark to test the efficacy of future policy interventions. As such, the article lays the empirical foundations for a new wave of doctrinal work on the procedural foundations and consequences of gender disparities. It also provides a methodology that can be extended to study litigation gender disparities in state courts, tribal courts, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings.
Volume
88
First Page
563
Recommended Citation
Roger Michalski, The Pro Se Gender Gap, 88 Brook. L. Rev. 563 (2023).