Most legal scholarship is produced in law schools that are part of universities committed to the pursuit of knowledge, but law schools are also part of a legal profession committed to, and even defined by, the ideal of justice. Scholarship reflects the legal academy’s dual identity. Normative legal scholarship aims to influence judges, lawyers, legislators or regulators to reform, interpret, or preserve existing law to make the world more just. Doctrinal scholarship aims for interpretations that show what actions justice requires or prohibits. Reformist legal scholarship aims to render the law more just not by interpreting pre-existing law, but by arguing for proposed legal reforms. The reformist scholar emphasizes claims of injustice or at least couples them with direct appeals to the common good or to public policy writ large. Normative scholarship is not bound by the same constraints as a judge’s opinion or a brief written for a client. It can range across entire swaths of law to address questions not posed by individual cases. It seeks fundamental changes in law, often over a long time frame, but not directly through filing a lawsuit. Its impact is felt through the force of its argument on its readership, including students who become judicial clerks, lawyers, judges, and legislators. This scholarship rests on the understanding that the work of justice is squarely within the purview, and reach, of law. It also demonstrates that the work of the citizen-lawyer requires scholarly virtues: deep engagement and rigorous thought.
Robin West and Danielle Citron
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