Persuader: Mobilization of Support

Law reform can be achieved through precedent-setting case law and through legislation. Each is a time-consuming activity with its own stumbling blocks. To establish law through the case method, one must have a fact situation directly on point with the inequity which one is trying to remedy. In many situations the client must be willing to follow through a long process of trial and appeal, instead of settling for a more immediate but incomplete resolution of his problem. The costs of litigation may become an insurmountable problem. Another difficulty with the test case as a vehicle for law reform is the possibility that a decision is rendered for the client in such a way as to avoid decision on the issue to be tested. For example, a case may be decided as a matter of statutory construction so that any constitutional question is avoided.