Cotterrell on Ehrlich's Footsteps: Reflections on Method Inspired By a Visit to the Birthplace of Empirical Socio-Legal Research

Roger Cotterrell, Queen Mary University of London School of Law, is publishing In Ehrlich’s Footsteps: Reflections on Method Inspired by a Visit to the Birthplace of Empirical Socio-Legal Research in Essays on Eugen Ehrlich (P. Brunet, J-B. Scherrer, C. Gavelli, and L. He., eds., Paris: Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence, forthcoming).

Eugen Ehrlich's pioneer sociology of law should be understood in relation to his time, but also to his particular geographical, political and cultural situation. And biographical information about him, though limited, is important. This paper is informed by reflections on a visit by the author to the location of Ehrlich's teaching and of his empirical social research. It argues that Ehrlich wanted the education of lawyers to be supplemented by their observation of local social regulation. It also suggests that his writings aimed to present a basic sociological model of law that could be treated as a guide for empirical social research.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.