Access to justice and enforcement of rights – an introduction

Imagine walking into a courtroom for the first time in your life. You feel stressed, uncertain, and everything is at stake. Now imagine that on the other side sits an insurance company or government agency that has been in this position hundreds of times before. This contrast – between what Marc Galanter (1974) called the “one-shotter” and the “repeat player” – lies at the heart of his classic work Why the “Haves” Come Out Ahead. Galanter showed that courts do not operate on a level playing field: those who appear again and again develop strategies, cultivate expertise, and even shape the rules themselves, while individuals, appearing only once, must bear the full risk of an unfamiliar system. The result is not random but structural: repeat players steadily accumulate advantages, while one-shotters are left at a disadvantage. More than forty years after its publication, Galanter’s argument continues to resonate: inequality before the courts is not simply about who has the better lawyer, but about how institutions themselves reward those who already know how to play the game.