Featured report
Judicial and Litigant Experiences
The Fairness Challenge Pilot National Report, published by LaGratta Consulting in March 2026, describes a six-month pilot focused on procedural-justice training, peer observation, and real-time litigant feedback.
What the pilot did
The Fairness Challenge Pilot Project selected four pilot-site jurisdictions spanning six counties in four states. Participating judicial officers took part in monthly remote training and live meetings for six months and agreed to install simple feedback mechanisms for litigants leaving their courtrooms remotely or in person.
What the report measured
All pilot courts asked the same short feedback questions: whether the judge treated the person fairly, helped the person understand what happened in court, listened to questions and concerns, and how the court could improve its services.
Why it matters
The report is especially useful because it treats procedural justice as a set of observable practices that can be taught, measured, and refined. It combines judicial self-assessment, peer observation, and litigant feedback, giving courts a practical model for continuous improvement.
Judicial perceptions and litigant perceptions
Before the pilot began, judicial officers estimated that out-of-custody litigants would rate their perceptions of fairness between 50% and 80%. The report found that perceptions of fairness were indeed higher than expected for nearly every participating judicial officer.
Conclusion from the report
The report concludes that litigant feedback is a valuable and irreplaceable measure of how courts are performing, that high perceptions of fairness are possible in courts, and that even high-performing courts can identify and make meaningful enhancements to improve perceptions of fairness.
Steve Leben also prepared a short practitioner-facing summary of the report on the Procedural Fairness Blog, highlighting the pilot's practical value for judges and court leaders.