Legal Realism to Law in Action recounts the tradition of innovative courses at Wisconsin Law

This is a book of papers and interviews about innovative law school courses developed by faculty of the Wisconsin Law School from 1950 to 1970 that forged a path from legal realism to law and social science. These courses took a “law in action” approach to the study of law which became a signature feature of the school’s tradition from that time to the present day.

“The Legal Realists of the 1920s and 30s taught that the law that mattered was the law in action, as applied by ordinary officials and experienced by ordinary people. But they mostly failed to get their program adopted as part of professional education alongside the study of appellate cases. Only at Wisconsin—thanks to a cluster of great scholar-teachers in Willard Hurst, Frank Remington, Herman Goldstein, Stewart Macaulay, Bill Whitford, and their collaborators—has the Realist vision been fully and splendidly realized in law teaching. This is the story of that thrilling experiment.”
— Robert W. Gordon, Professor of Law Emeritus, Stanford University; Chancellor Kent Professor Emeritus of Law and Legal History, Yale Law School 

“This book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the law and society movement and the unique role that the University of Wisconsin Law School has played in that tradition. In a series of essays by and interviews of current and former Wisconsin law teachers, the creativity of Wisconsin’s challenge to the traditional legal academy comes alive.”
— Lauren Edelman, Agnes Roddy Robb Professor of Law and Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley 

“In a time when an increasing number of law schools characterize themselves as bastions of ‘law in action,’ this volume provides a bracing reminder of a more precise vision. That vision was rooted in the legal realist tradition during an earlier ‘golden age’ of sociolegal thought at the University of Wisconsin Law School. In this important book, we hear vivid accounts of the innovative law teaching during that time, which took realist discoveries seriously—in Contracts, Legal Process, Legal History, and Criminal Law.”
— Elizabeth Mertz, Research Professor, American Bar Foundation; John and Rylla Bosshard Professor Emerita, UW-Madison Law School

ABOUT THE EDITOR: William H. Clune is Voss-Bascom Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research over many years dealt with equity in school finance, educational adequacy, constitutional law, and law and public policy.

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Available in paperback, hardbound, and eBooks:

PAPERBACK: Look for it at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, BooksAMillion, and other retailers. Libraries may also order from YBP Library Services, MLS, and Ingram.

HARDCOVER: at Amazon.com, also in Ingram catalog, and from YBP Library Services or MLS.

Amazon Kindle edition at Amazon.

B&N Nook edition at Barnes & Noble.

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This edition is also available from Google Play and the Google Book page, and in universal ePUB format from Smashwords; look for it, too, at such ebookstores as Kobobooks, Axis360, and Oyster.

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Cataloging:

ISBN 978-1-61027-437-1  (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-61027-438-9 (hardbound)
ISBN 978-1-61027-439-5 (ePUB)

List price: $29.99 (paper); $39.99 (hard); $9.99 (ebook)

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