Dr. Rebecca Sandefur, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship whose research focuses on increasing access to legal services for low-income people, will be the next featured guest in an upcoming “On the Issues with Mike Gousha,” Friday, April 26, at 12:15 p.m. in the Lubar Center at Marquette University Law School’s Eckstein Hall.

Sandefur will discuss how to best address the civil legal needs of low-income people. Her research on access to civil justice sheds light on how legal services are delivered and consumed by low-income people. While the outcomes of civil cases are potentially life-changing—including eviction, loss of custody of a child, wage garnishment, or loss of government or insurance benefits—at least one party lacks legal representation in more than three-quarters of all civil cases filed in state courts today.

Sandefur is a faculty member in the department of sociology and the college of law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was one of 25 MacArthur Fellows in 2018 as a legal scholar. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Gousha, an award-winning journalist, continues his “On the Issues” series of provocative and insightful interviews with local and national public officials, journalists and other newsmakers throughout the year. A complete schedule is available online.

Through public programming such as the Marquette Law School Poll, debates featuring candidates in significant political races, Gousha’s “On the Issues” conversations with newsmakers, public lectures by leading scholars and conferences on significant issues of public importance, the Law School serves as the region’s leading venue for serious civil discourse about law and public policy matters.

The event is open to members of the general public at no cost; registration is required and is available online. Members of the media who are interested in attending should contact Kevin Conway, associate director of university communication, at kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.