The Nature of the Common Law

“Ambitious and important… Eisenberg ranges widely over such issues as the proper social functions of courts in our society… A remarkable—indeed, brilliant—presentation of the internal rationality of the common law.”—H. Jefferson Powell, Notre Dame Law Review

“The need for serious theoretical exploration of the nature of the common law has rarely been greater, and Melvin Eisenberg’s The Nature of the Common Law constitutes an important contribution to this increasingly necessary enterprise… Eisenberg has greatly assisted the process of understanding not only the common law, but also the law in general.”—Frederick Schauer, California Law Review

“This is a first-rate study of the principles that govern decision-making under common law—it brings out how the social functions of the courts bear on the correctness of a decision. Unlike many works on this topic, it is rich in examples, and sensitive to actual judicial practice.”—Judith Jarvis Thomson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Professor Eisenberg has written a concise, thoughtful, and refreshingly optimistic account of the common law tradition.”—Harry H. Wellington, Yale Law School