RULES VERUS RELATIONSHIPS: The Ethnography of Legal Discourse

by John M. Conley, William M. O'Barr

In Rules versus Relationships , John M. Conley and William M. O'Barr examine the experiences of litigants seeking redress of everyday difficulties through the small claims courts of the American legal system. The authors find two major and contrasting ways in which litigants formulate and express their problems in terms of specific rule violations and seek concrete legal remedies that would mend soured relationships and respond to their personal and social needs.

236 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

Reviews

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended! I'd encourage every law student to read this after their 1L year, and would recommend it to my Rhet/Comp colleagues as well. Short, highly readable, great methodology, and profound insights into how differences in discourse within the legal system reflect and shape class, race and cultural distinctions as well as legal outcomes.