Jurisprudence

Online
Essay
The Concept of the Common Law
Samuel L. Bray
Professor Samuel Bray is a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He thanks Will Baude, Richard Re, and an anonymous reviewer for incisive comments.

The common law is, among other things, a mode of legal development. In this mode, judges develop the law yet simultaneously act as if they were only discovering law that already existed. This sketch of the common law introduces contemporary readers to a way of thinking and talking about law that was once instinctive for judges. The common law as a mode of development may seem alien at certain points, yet its influence on the legal systems of the United States has been enormous, and it is critical background for understanding the grant of “the judicial power” in the U.S. Constitution.

Online
Essay
Some Doubts About Folk Jurisprudence: The Case of Proximate Cause
Felipe Jiménez
Assistant Professor of Law and Philosophy, University of Southern California.

Many thanks to Anya Bernstein, Lewis Kornhauser, Alexandra Lahav, Marcela Prieto, Anthony Sebok, Dan Simon, Kevin Tobia, Nina Varsava, and Benjamin Zipursky for comments on previous drafts.

According to a relatively common view, general jurisprudence is an exercise aimed at understanding “our ordinary concept of law.”

Online
Essay
Judging the Referee: How Judicial Standards of Review Can Improve Soccer’s Video Assistant Referee System
Eliana Fleischer
Eliana Fleischer is a J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School, Class of 2024.

She thanks Matthew Makowski, Cheridan Christnacht, Annie Kors, and the University of Chicago Law Review Online team. She also thanks her first readers, Julie Fleischer and Barry Fleischer.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is in full swing, and while no one knows what the results of the games will be, we do know one thing: no matter who wins, there will be people mad at the referees.