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SSRN-the Web of Law by Thomas Smith
Another fascinating paper from SSRN, this one about mapping case law. I think this approach has enormous implications for everything that relies on an accurate understanding of the structure of law, including accessing legal information, and teaching law.
Thanis for the tip about this paper, Michael – I looked at the abstract, the artic le is in 3 parts; to my thinking, the first 2 parts don’t tell us anything we don’t already know. To quote from the abstract:
“Precendential authority is concentrated in a small number of cases. The vast majority of cases are rarely or never cited.”
Its the third section I think has more interest – the use of network models and citation analysis to map the trends and developments in law.
Slawers with long memories will recall Louise’s post at http://www.slaw.ca/2005/08/19/the-web-of-law/
Good to be reminded, though. Made me read it. Though Neil is right, I suppose (lacking the mathematical knowledge) that knowing and showing are two different things. This is the statistical “long tail” we’ve been hearing so much about on the web lately, no? What interests me is how clusters form, how the “rich get richer” when it comes to citations, and where the critical point is that means the case will be cited for certain in a judgment in the area.
It would be interesting to see what the network looks like for cases cited in memoranda to the SC. Presumably lawyers, being quintessentially risk averse, when it comes to appeal memos, at least, will overcite — by how much, by what principles, at what cost, etc.?
What I think is interesting is how this might change legal taxonomy and, generally, high-level views of the law as delivered in classrooms. If, for instance, a closely connected group of cases brings together legal concepts that are usually considered separately, say contracts and civil procedure, that would argue for new categories.