- Law in action
"This article is about the legal philosophy. For the BBC radio programme, see
Law in Action (radio programme) "Law in action is a
legal theory , associated withlegal realism , that examines the role oflaw , not just as it exists in thestatute s and cases, but as it is actually applied insociety . Law in actionscholar s often start with observations about the behavior ofinstitution s and work "backwards" toward the legal philosophies guidingcourt s and traditionaljurisprudence . AsKenneth B. Davis , Dean of theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School has stated, "'Law in Action' . . . means that in teaching and research, no matter how interesting we find a legal theory, we always need to ask, 'How does this affect people's lives in the real world?'"History
The first reference to Law in Action may have been a 1910 article by
Roscoe Pound , theHarvard Law School dean whose work was a forerunner to the legal realism movement. [http://www.law.wisc.edu/law-in-action/davislawinactionessay.html Law in Action: The Dean's View - University of Wisconsin Law School ] ] From there, the concept caught hold at theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School , where the law in action concept is most prevalent today. The law in action concept was a natural fit for Wisconsin because of its strong emphasis on the social sciences and theWisconsin Idea --the concept that the boundaries of campus are the boundaries of the state.Teaching law in action
As at law schools everywhere, the focus is on appellate opinions. However, a professor who focuses on law in action is likely to go past the holding of the case to look at more questions such as "How might the parties on the losing end of the case respond?" "Will the rule change their future behavior?" "Who will enforce the rule?" or "What was the cause of the underlying dispute?" will be addressed Similarly, clinical education and clinical skills courses take on a more important role for students, who get to integrate their personal experiences with the classroom work.
See also
*
Law and economics
*Legal realism
*Natural law References
* [http://www.law.wisc.edu/law-in-action/index.html A discussion of Law-in-Action from the UW Law web site]
*Kenneth J. Davis, Dean of theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School , on [http://www.law.wisc.edu/Davislawinactionessay.htm Law In Action]
* [http://www.law.wisc.edu/law-in-action/wisconsin_idea.pdf Paul D. Carrington and Erika King, Law and the Wisconsin Idea, 47 Journal of Legal Education 297 (1997)]
* [http://www.law.wisc.edu/law-in-action/outline_history.pdf W. Scott van Alystyne, Jr., The University of Wisconsin Law School 1868-1968: An Outline History, 1968 Wisconsin Law Review 321]
* [http://www.law.wisc.edu/law-in-action/service_to_the_state.pdf John E. Conway, The Law School: Service to the State and Nation, 1968 Wisconsin L. Rev. 345]
* [http://www.law.wisc.edu/law-in-action/changing_responsibilities.pdf Willard Hurst, Changing Responsibilities of the Law School 1868-1968, 1968 Wisconsin L. Rev. 336]
* [http://www.law.wisc.edu/facstaff/macaulay/papers/wisconsin_legal_tradition.pdf Stewart Macaulay, Wisconsin's Legal Tradition, 24 Gargoyle 6-10 (1994)]
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