'It is Not Wisdom, but Authority that Makes a Law:' A Historical Perspective on the Problem of Creating a Restatement of Employment Law

Schiller, Reuel

Abstract

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'It is Not Wisdom, but Authority that Makes a Law:' A Historical Perspective on the Problem of Creating a Restatement of Employment Law

Reuel Schiller

University of California Hastings College of the Law

April 29, 2009

Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2009

Abstract:
When the American Law Institute (ALI) first began creating the Restatements in 1923, its goal was to solve the problem of the increasing incoherence of the common law. Langdellian legal science was supposed to have generated objectively “correct” legal rules, yet the ever increasing number of published opinions revealed quite the opposite. The common law was developing chaotically, without consistency or logic. Yet the creation of Restatements has never been a smooth, uncontroversial process. Indeed, as the various critiques of the proposed Restatement (Third) of Employment Law that are the subject of this conference demonstrate, restating the law can create as many problems as it solves.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 4

Keywords: ALI, Restatement of Employment Law, Langdellian, history

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Date posted: April 29, 2009

Suggested Citation

Schiller, Reuel, 'It is Not Wisdom, but Authority that Makes a Law:' A Historical Perspective on the Problem of Creating a Restatement of Employment Law (April 29, 2009). Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1396708

Contact Information

Reuel Schiller (Contact Author)

University of California Hastings College of the Law ( email )

200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States