Papers by Elizabeth Mertz
New York University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2020
Anyone who has attended law school knows that it invokes an important intellectual transformation... more Anyone who has attended law school knows that it invokes an important intellectual transformation, frequently referred to as “learning to think like a lawyer”. This process, which forces students to think and talk in radically new and toward different ways about conflicts, is directed by professors in the course of their lectures and examinations, and conducted via spoken and written language. This book delves into that legal language to reveal the complexities of how this process takes place. The book bases its linguistic study on tape recordings from first year Contracts courses in eight different law schools. The book discusses how these schools employ the Socratic method between teacher and student, forcing the student to shift away from moral and emotional terms in thinking about conflict, toward frameworks of legal authority instead. This move away from moral frameworks is key, the book says, arguing that it represents an underlying world view at the core not just of law educa...
Social Science Research Network, 2016
This symposium paper commemorates the tenth year that a body of research has formally flown under... more This symposium paper commemorates the tenth year that a body of research has formally flown under the banner of New Legal Realism (NLR). We are very pleased that the UC Irvine Law Review has elected to publish these articles and memorialize the 10th Anniversary NLR Conference that took place in Irvine in August 2014, with the support of the American Bar Foundation and the University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law). The four articles in this symposium and the concluding essay make important scholarly contributions and help in different ways to continue to define the NLR project while fostering its further development. As we will suggest in this Introduction, we believe there are good reasons to keep this project moving in the direction that these articles chart. We begin with a short introduction to the NLR project.
Law and Humanities, 2019
This special section of Law and Humanities focuses on the 45th anniversary edition of James Boyd ... more This special section of Law and Humanities focuses on the 45th anniversary edition of James Boyd White's The Legal Imagination: a book that was groundbreaking when it first appeared in 1973 (since it is generally credited as having initiated the 'law and literature' movement) and that remains a hugely important resource today. White's approach to legal scholarship and education-reading law's instruments, its rhetoric and concepts alongside, above, below and in-between literary works and criticism-opened up a new world of intellectual possibilities. Realization of these possibilities has come in the form of the growth and flourishing, not only of law and literature but also numerous other intersections of law and the humanities that owe a debt to White. This symposium brings together seven eminent scholars (and readers of The Legal Imagination) to reflect on the contribution that White's book made and continues to make to law and humanities education and scholarship.
American Sociological Review, 1963
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
Research Handbook on Modern Legal Realism, 2021
Depaul Law Review, 2018
67 DePaul Law Review 655 (2018). There is a quiet irony to be found in scholarly writings about t... more 67 DePaul Law Review 655 (2018). There is a quiet irony to be found in scholarly writings about the judiciary, which often center around high-profile jurists selected as the "great" judges. But there are great judges who do not receive or even want such widespread recognition, and who do not discuss their philosophy of judging-they simply focus on the job in front of them. Judges who operate with humility can often be very quiet about their legacies-brushing the issue off, as if uncomfortable with the attention. Anyone who knew Judge Richard D. Cudahy of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit will recognize this description. In some ways, that kind of reticence makes writing about his jurisprudence more than a little challenging. But in other ways, it invites us to examine what this "judges' judge" exemplified as he worked at his craft. In reflecting on this, perhaps we can understand that craft more deeply.
This introductory chapter shows the distinctive qualities of New Legal Realism (NLR), captures wh... more This introductory chapter shows the distinctive qualities of New Legal Realism (NLR), captures where it stands around its fifteenth anniversary, and explains the goal of the larger book. In doing so, we demonstrate NLR’s fruitful continuation of the legal realist adventure as it reaches beyond historical and national boundaries to form new international conversations, based heavily on law-and-society networks and traditions. In addition, we provide a contrast to Empirical Legal Studies, because the NLR project clearly visible in this volume does not just use quantitative methods to study lawyers and legal institutions as they have been traditionally viewed. Instead, it includes chapters by social scientists and law professors using social science theory and multiple methods to understand law and address legal problems—across an impressive variety of subject areas such as immigration, policing, globalization, legal education, and access to justice. Finally, it offers a series of chap...
This is the first of two volumes announcing the emergence of the new legal realism as a field of ... more This is the first of two volumes announcing the emergence of the new legal realism as a field of study. At a time when the legal academy is turning to social science for new approaches, these volumes chart a new course for interdisciplinary research by synthesizing law on the ground, empirical research, and theory. Volume 1 lays the groundwork for this novel and comprehensive approach with an innovative mix of theoretical, historical, pedagogical, and empirical perspectives. Their empirical work covers such wide-ranging topics as the financial crisis, intellectual property battles, the legal disenfranchisement of African-American landowners, and gender and racial prejudice on law school faculties. The methodological blueprint offered here will be essential for anyone interested in the future of law-and-society.
The Language of Law School, 2007
Language and Law=Linguagem e Direito
Law & Social Inquiry
In this article, we combine quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate why post-tenure l... more In this article, we combine quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate why post-tenure law professors of color and women professors within the US legal academy are differentially dissatisfied with their work lives. Previous social science research has indicated lingering difficulties for professionals from traditionally marginalized groups as they advance to higher levels. Post-tenure law professors have been understudied relative to similar senior-level professionals. Mixed methods allow us to isolate institutional structure and implicit cultural bias as key mediators of this dissatisfaction, converging on issues of respect, voice, and collegiality as crucial. We use the example of the legal academy to show how empirical research can shed important light on the realities of legal professionals—here, the faculty who are training the next generation of US attorneys. Following in the new legal realist tradition, we demonstrate the power of mixed empirical methodologies for gr...
In this study, we explore the problems and the potential involved in combining social science and... more In this study, we explore the problems and the potential involved in combining social science and legal decision making, drawing primarily on examples from the United States. We also briefly discuss the situation in Israel, which provides an interesting comparison. We suggest that ...
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Papers by Elizabeth Mertz