Berring    

“The  library  was  the  laboratory  of  the  law  and  law  books  the  “stuff”  of  legal  research.”    

-­‐Chirstopher   Langdell  (CL)      

I. Setting    

• Law  was  a  science,  a  body  of  knowledge  that  had  its  own  structure.  o Reducible  to  rational  propositions.  o Rational  system  aimed  to  break  away  from  irrational  prejudice.  

• Blackstone-­‐  law  perceived  in  a  seamless  web.  o Common   law  could  be   logically  explained  and  was  part  of   the  

system.  • Natural   law   provided   the   premise   that   there   was   structure   and  

foundation  to  build  a  rational  system.  o A  universal  truth.  primary  authorities  could  be  used  to  indicate  

the  larger  structure.    • Written  reports  or  cases  is  the  embodiment  of  common  law.-­‐  CL  

o Common  law  leads  to  understanding  of  Law’s  structure.    o Pieces  of  the  puzzle  put  assembled  into  one  coherent  picture.  

Year   Books-­‐   manuscripts   of   notes   taken   down  concerning  actions  of  the  court.  (Case  Reports)  

Nominative   case   reports-­‐   Notes   gathered.   Individually  compiled.  Publihsed  as  illustrations.    

• Satisfied   the   need   of   “precedent”   given   there  were  no  written  reports  at  the  time.      

• Such   publications   of   the   histories   of   important  cases  produced  a  permanent  system  of  common  law  –Ephraim  Kirby  p2.    

• At   the   time,   there   was   no   system,   case   reports  were  subjective  and  intellectual  input  involved.    

o It   was   the   reporters   reputation   that  determined  its  acceptance.  

• Official   Reports   needed   to   carve   out   a   distinct   “American”   Common  law.  

o The   impression   of   lawyers   as   masters   of   memory   and   logic  came  to  an  end  with  the  growth  of  legal  reports.  

o The  subjective  form  of  earlier  reports  were  replaced  with  mere  disorganized  reporter’s  works.  

o Creation  of  legal  activity  gave  birth  to  the  need  for  better  tools.   Development  of  West  Company  (Arewa)  

• Standardization   of   reports   through   verification  with  presiding  judge.  

Other  means  available  such  as  The  English  model    • Chose  portions  of  the  decision  

Latter   did   not   prevail.   Need   for   all   precedents   to   be  available.  

Through  the  standardization,  publication  grew  apace.  •      Memory   could   no   longer     serve   as   a  main   toll  

and  was  replaced  with  a  research  system.    

II. Legal  Literature  and  Legal  Thinking    

• Development  of   specialized   tools  needed   to   systematize   the  growing  number  of  cases,  and  satisfy  the  market  of  lawyers.  

o Precedent  did  not  emerge  from  digested  cases,  but  from  a  large  body  of  unorganized  principles.  

Restatement   effort-­‐       Made   in   effort   to   provide   an  intelligent  summary.  

• Did  not  replace  the  actual  case.  Merely  because  a  secondary  authority.  

• West  was   able   to   get   it.   Provided   a   structure   to  organize  law.  

 III. The  Current  Situation  

 • The  form  of  presentation  can  be  as  important  as  the  information  itself.  

o Information  once  unindexed  or  misplaced  can  be  forever  lost.  o West   structure  provided  a   skeleton  off  which   the   system  was  

built.   Changed  in  the  digital  era.  

• Lexis  and  Westlaw  both  provide  a   system  where  one  can  search  per  word-­‐   a   remarkable   conceptual   advance   because   one   can   easily   sift  through  mass  of  cases.    

• Ability   to   search   freely   brings   us   closer   in   the   exposure   of   common  law.  

o Individual   researchers   are   able   to   go   online   and   fit   their  thoughts  into  pre-­‐exisiting  cases.    

As  a  result,  law  will  specialize  even  further.   Might   develop   to   a   point   without   old   conceptual  

constraints  and  become  more  positivist.    • This   could   either   be   the   development   of   a   new  

meaning  of  law  or  the  final  stage  of  devolution  to  plumbers.