While it is important for advocacy organisations to be alert to the opportunities to use the courts to further their advocacy objectives, they must also be aware of the limitations of court actions. These limitations include: Court action is costly; The outcome is uncertain; A good case is dependent on good facts and strong argument; Unless a matter is considered by the courts to be urgent, court actions often take a long time to be heard; It is difficult to involve the membership of an organisation in the detailed planning of a court action.

In most instances, it would be unwise for an organisation to devote all of its resources to a court action. It is usually better to use litigation as one last option in a campaign, alongside other tactics such as a media strategy, a public awareness campaign, lobbying relevant government officials, etc. On some issues, the threat of legal action is sufficient to get the attention of those who have the power to make the desired change to the law. Actually instituting court proceedings is usually a strategy of last resort.