Analyzing Law - A Framework for Understanding Law of All Sorts and for All Purposes (Cases, Exercises and Commentary)

Abstract:     
This is the introductory chapter and the tables of contents of a set of materials that applies a single framework for analyzing law of all sorts and for all purposes to a wide variety of legal subjects. The central focus is on the choice among decision makers such as courts, markets, and political processes (institutional choice) and the analytical framework is comparative institutional analysis. Put simply, the allocation of decision-making is the logic of the law and understanding the trade-offs involved is the approach to understanding what law is and ought to be. There are many purposes for these materials. They are, as they seem, the basis for a course or inputs into many courses. But their main purpose is to make comparative institutional analysis more accessible to the law school and legal communities in general. By using the most familiar of formats – the casebook – and the most basic of issues – the lawyering question, I am seeking to bring the tools of comparative institutional analysis to more law teachers, lawyers and judges.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 15

Keywords: legal analysis, comparative institutional analysis, law and economics, property rights, torts, constitutional law, judicial review, land use, contracts, administrative law, civil procedure, class actions, constitutional analysis, economic analysis, common law, trespass, nuisance, analytical framewor

JEL Classification: K11

working papers series