On Critical Legal Theory

The Conference on Critical Legal Studies (CLS) came into being in Madison, Wisconsin in 1977, during a meeting of legal scholars and practitioners dissatisfied with “mainstream” law. Since then “crits” have become one of the most important—and controversial—groups within the legal academy. The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal regularly denounces them as exemplars of the left-wing mentality allegedly pervading leading law schools. From a more scholarly vant...