This collection of socio-legal studies, written by leading theorists and researchers from around the world, offers original, perceptive and critical contributions to ideas and theories that have been expounded by Roger Cotterrell over a long and distinguished career. Engaging with the complexity and multiplicity of our contemporary legal world, the contributions are likely to become classics themselves as they tackle some of the most significant challenges that modern law faces.

This collection of socio-legal studies, written by leading theorists and researchers from around the world, offers original, perceptive and critical contributions to ideas and theories that have been expounded by Roger Cotterrell over a long and distinguished career. Engaging with many classic issues and theories of the sociology of law, the contributions are likely to become classics themselves as they tackle some of the most significant challenges that modern law faces. They do not shy away from what one of the contributors describes as the complexity and multiplicity of our contemporary legal world. The book is organized in three parts: socio-legal themes; methodological and jurisprudential themes; globalization, cultural and comparative law themes. Starting with a chapter that re-engages with the need to interpret legal ideas sociologically, and ending with one that explores the global significance of modern fascination with the idea of the rule of law, this selection offers important additions to the oeuvre of Roger Cotterrell (a list of whose academic writings is included in the book).

A core text for the Law and Society or Sociology of Law course offered in Sociology, Criminal Justice, Political Science, and Schools of Law. * John Sutton offers an explicitly analytical perspective to the subject - how does law change? What makes law more or less effective in solving social problems? What do lawyers do? * Chapter 1 contrasts normative and sociological perspectives on law, and presents a brief primer on the logic of research and inference as it is applied to law related issues. * Theories of legal change are discussed within a common conceptual framework that highlights the explantory strengths and weaknesses of different arguments. * Discussions of "law in action" are explicitly comparative, applying a consistent model to explain the variable outcomes of civil rights legislation. * Many concrete, in-depth examples throughout the chapters.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has the power to strike off a solicitor from the roll, suspend a solicitor from practice, fine or reprimand a solicitor or make such other order as it thinks fit. Whilst over 90% of all cases brought before the SDT are brought by the SRA, it is open to anyone to bring a matter before it.This book provides a unique step-by-step guide to the law and practice of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, from the issue of proceedings through to appeal. Its practical approach will help anyone who wishes to avoid the common pitfalls faced by unfamiliar users of the Tribunal.It is the only comprehensive book available on SDT proceedings and it contains all the leading cases on Tribunal proceedings, many of which are not available on the internet, in one handy volume.

The anthology Law in Society explores how law shapes and is shaped by societies. The selections stem from a view of law as an integral part of the wider socio-political economy and one of its central institutions. The introduction familiarizes students with definitions and explanations of criminal law, explores the functions of law, and provides an overview of the theories of law covered in the rest of the book. The first section of the text examines sources of law, natural law theory, and the concept of positive or formal law. The second section considers the origins of law in social structures and provides an overview of sociology of law. The third section is devoted to sources of law and social control such as custom, social norms, and group processes. The final section introduces critical theories of law and considers recent developments in alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice. Through reading Law in Society students come to recognize that as a society changes, so too do its laws and legal system. The book is well suited to courses in criminal justice and sociology, as well as those in social or cultural anthropology.

These essays seek to re-locate the relationship between the traditional concerns of legal theory and the sociology of law by establishing a consistent theoretical approach to the analysis of law in contemporary Western societies.