Debt collection claims have more than doubled over the past twenty years as unsecured consumer credit became more widely available. What’s troubling is that these claims are frequently uncontested, resulting in a high rate of default judgments, seizure of property, wage garnishments, and other modes of enforcement.

The American Law Institute (ALI) recently launched an ambitious project to find a cure for this crippling crisis and they seem to have the perfect “doctor” (the J.D./Ph.D. kind) for the job: Stanford Law School Professor David Freeman Engstrom whose impressive CV overflows with all the right credentials and an undeniable devotion to equal access to justice.