The Many Texts of the Law

Michael Henry Davis, Dana Neacsu

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This paper contends that even as jurists invoke the official canonic version of the legal text, it is in danger of being replaced for the jurist, as well as for the lay person, if it has not been substituted already, by some apocryphal, inauthentic or casual text. We argue that in addition to the approximate nature of legal knowledge, the overuse of overedited and perverted casebooks, as well as the distribution of legal information among imperfect sources – some official but partial, others inauthentic but highly accessible, and a few reliable but highly unaffordable commercial sources – are largely responsible for this situation.

    Original languageAmerican English
    JournalBritish Journal of American Legal Studies
    Volume3
    StatePublished - Oct 1 2014

    Keywords

    • jurists
    • legal texts

    Disciplines

    • Law

    Cite this