Blackstone's Tower: The English Law School - College of Social ...

Law in Culture and Society
lectively have broken a number of publishing records in the United
States. Novels, and films based on them, such as The Firm, The
Pelican Brief and Presumed Innocent, have penetrated the British
market. 16 It has been suggested that one reason for the popularity
of the genre is that the ambiguities and dilemmas of legal practice
suit the modern mood better than the heroes and villains of classic
westerns or the intellectual puzzles of the ordinary detective story.
With the ending of the Cold War the lawyer can replace the spy
or double agent as a morally ambiguous protagonist, operating in a
dramatic setting with endless narrative opportunities. The American
lawyer novel has the advantage of being able to deal with a very
wide range of subjects, many of which are topical, complex and
controversial, because in America, at least, almost any public issue
can be transformed into a legal issue, as de Tocqueville noted long
ago. Unlike some other kinds of best-seller, it appeals to both men
and women. 17 This interpretation may exaggerate the long-term
staying power of the genre. Be that as it may, the book shop fantasy
echoes the newspaper exercise in reminding us of the ubiquity of
law in intellectual and popular culture as well as in everyday life.
It might be objected that newspapers, books, plays and TV programmes
do not accurately reflect the realities of law in society any
more than they mirror other aspects of everyday life. Newspapers
emphasise the unusual, the dramatic, the sensational. On the
whole, what works well, the routine, and the commonplace are
not "news". "Driver observes speed-limit" or "John Brown not
burgled last night" or even "Businessman honours contract" are
not the stuff of headlines. Yet one of the main functions of law is
to produce such orderly behaviour. Similarly courtroom dramas
feature prominently in fiction, film and plays just because they are
seen as dramatic. But few real life trials are sensational or even
interesting for spectators, and we sometimes forget that the contested
trial is wholly exceptional in legal life.
It might be argued, not only is law treated highly selectively in
the news and other media, but what is depicted may be misleading
or inaccurate. One should not confuse journalism or fiction with
sociology. This point applies with special force to television and
other forms of popular culture from which many people get some
of the most vivid impressions and images of law. As an American
commentator, Lawrence Friedman, put it:
"Suppose our legal sources were all destroyed in a nuclear nightmare
which wiped out [all the standard legal reference works and sources];
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