On Karl N. Llewellyn, Jurisprudence: Realism in Theory and Practice

Abstract

This chapter offers a brief biography of Karl N. Llewellyn, which will place his work within the broader historical and cultural context of American jurisprudence since 1870. It compares Llewellyn's work with that of Roscoe Pound whose own program of sociological jurisprudence preceded Llewellyn's by some twenty years. Although Pound and Llewellyn both advocated legal realism, their versions were incompatible to such an extent that heated exchanges between the two—both public and private—marked their professional careers. Legal realism is a jurisprudential philosophy that attempted to contextualize the practice of law. By all accounts Llewellyn employed a rather difficult writing style, often obscure and tangential. Most of his writings contained in Jurisprudence: Realism in Theory and Practice, are evocative of this difficult writing style. The chapter summarizes a couple of his more interesting contributions, especially as these inform current and ongoing issues in law and jurisprudence.