Can you tell me about the concept of justice in the law?

Black's Law Dictionary gives the definition of "justice" as "The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due."  In other words, our legal system is designed to provide everyone with what he (or she) is rightly entitled to receive. 

However, the reality is not as simple as the theoretical definition.  Our nation's court procedures have become very demanding over two and a half centuries, so it is sometimes difficult for someone to receive...

Black's Law Dictionary gives the definition of "justice" as "The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due."  In other words, our legal system is designed to provide everyone with what he (or she) is rightly entitled to receive. 

However, the reality is not as simple as the theoretical definition.  Our nation's court procedures have become very demanding over two and a half centuries, so it is sometimes difficult for someone to receive "justice" without incurring great cost.  A cynical person would say that the person with more money to spend is in a better position to receive "justice" in the courts than someone with less. 

We use what is called an "adversarial" system, which means that courts are designed to resolve conflicts between two adversaries.  Putting aside the element of cost, a person who believes that he has been wronged in some way is entitled to file a complaint in court; the other party files an answer to dispute the matter; and ultimately a judge or jury will listen to both sides and make the fairest decision possible.  That's the simple version of our system.  Each person has equal opportunity to make or defend his or her argument, and each person is considered equally.  Along the way, however, are myriad motions, requests, discovery matters, document reviews, depositions, etc., which can take a great deal of time and money. 

A famous literary example of the cost of justice is the case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, which is a dispute about an inheritance in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens.  At the opening of the novel, that dispute has already been going on in the court system for generations, and by the time it is resolved, the legal costs have expended the full amount of the inheritance.  Everyone had their time in court, but nobody (except the lawyers) received anything from it.  Is that justice?