Hardback
Computational Legal Studies
The Promise and Challenge of Data-Driven Research
9781788977449 Edward Elgar Publishing
Featuring contributions from a diverse set of experts, this thought-provoking book offers a visionary introduction to the computational turn in law and the resulting emergence of the computational legal studies field. It explores how computational data creation, collection, and analysis techniques are transforming the way in which we comprehend and study the law, and the implications that this has for the future of legal studies.
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Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
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Computational Legal Studies offers a visionary introduction to the computational turn in law and the resulting emergence of the computational legal studies field. It explores how computational data creation, collection, and analysis techniques are transforming the way in which we comprehend and study the law, and the implications that this has for the future of legal studies.
Featuring contributions from a diverse set of experts, this thought-provoking book considers the implications of computationally enabled research and the future trajectory of the field. It discusses how technological, scientific, and methodological developments are not only making the traditional practice of law more efficient but are also creating new perspectives on the law and shaping how we understand it. Chapters draw on a range of examples of computational legal research to demonstrate how a wide variety of research methods, including natural language processing, machine learning, agent-based modelling, and network analysis, are transforming the relationship between law and computation.
This book will prove to be a stimulating read for legal academics looking for a better understanding of this emerging field and for law students interested in new legal research techniques. It will also be a valuable resource for legal firms and computational social scientists interested in examining how law is adopting computational methods.
Featuring contributions from a diverse set of experts, this thought-provoking book considers the implications of computationally enabled research and the future trajectory of the field. It discusses how technological, scientific, and methodological developments are not only making the traditional practice of law more efficient but are also creating new perspectives on the law and shaping how we understand it. Chapters draw on a range of examples of computational legal research to demonstrate how a wide variety of research methods, including natural language processing, machine learning, agent-based modelling, and network analysis, are transforming the relationship between law and computation.
This book will prove to be a stimulating read for legal academics looking for a better understanding of this emerging field and for law students interested in new legal research techniques. It will also be a valuable resource for legal firms and computational social scientists interested in examining how law is adopting computational methods.
Critical Acclaim
‘This book situates computational analysis of law among overlapping research areas and deepens one’s sense of the field as vitally distinct. The field is equally transnational and transubstantive, and the legal texts of interest are transmodal (spanning cases, statutes, administrative regulations, and much else). Each chapter reflects all those rich variations, while also highlighting the field’s core methods. It is, and will continue to be, an important reference volume for those who hope to produce or consume the best computational legal studies.’
– Joseph Scott Miller, University of Georgia, School of Law, US
‘Long overdue and perfectly timed, this book connects daring ideas with cutting-edge research methods to examine legal developments and legal practices. It is an indispensable companion for those who are interested in the fast-developing world of computational techniques that change the way we understand and practice law. It provides a vital tool to those who wish to explore the basics, the developments, the novelty, the variety, and the implications of these techniques for the new legal and social reality.’
– Urska Šadl, European University Institute, Italy
– Joseph Scott Miller, University of Georgia, School of Law, US
‘Long overdue and perfectly timed, this book connects daring ideas with cutting-edge research methods to examine legal developments and legal practices. It is an indispensable companion for those who are interested in the fast-developing world of computational techniques that change the way we understand and practice law. It provides a vital tool to those who wish to explore the basics, the developments, the novelty, the variety, and the implications of these techniques for the new legal and social reality.’
– Urska Šadl, European University Institute, Italy
Contributors
Contributors: C.S. Alexander, W. Alschner, E. Ash, K.D. Ashley, J. Beckerdorf, D. Behn, D. Chen, M. Esmark, M.J. Feizollahi, P. Gowder, D. Hartung, M. Langford, R. Lie, J.Z. Liu, M.A. Livermore, N. Mainali, L. Meier, H. Palmer Olsen, J.W. Penney, M. Schaper, A. Schwartz, P. Sittig, N. Suzor, Y. Tang, G. van Dijck, D. van Kuppevelt, N. Varsava, R. Whalen
Contents
Contents:
The emergence of computational legal studies: an introduction 1
Ryan Whalen
1 Sense and similarity: automating legal text comparison 9
Wolfgang Alschner
2 Computational legal studies, digital humanities, and textual
analysis 29
Nina Varsava
3 Computational stylometry: predicting the authorship of
investment treaty awards 53
Malcolm Langford, Daniel Behn and Runar Lie
4 Automated classification of modes of moral reasoning in
judicial decisions 77
Nischal Mainali, Liam Meier, Elliott Ash and Daniel Chen
5 On dragons, caves, teeth, and claws: legal analytics and the
problem of court data access 95
Charlotte S. Alexander and Mohammad Javad Feizollahi
6 Computational legal studies in China: progress, challenges,
and future 124
Yingmao Tang and John Zhuang Liu
7 Measuring surveillance chill and other regulatory impacts at
scale 146
Jonathon W. Penney
8 Understanding content moderation systems: new methods to
understand internet governance at scale, over time, and across
platforms 166
Nicolas Suzor
9 Accounting for legal values 190
Kevin D. Ashley
10 Is legal cognition computational? (When will DeepVehicle
replace Judge Hercules?) 215
Paul Gowder
11 Rule by rules 238
Michael A. Livermore
12 Purposes and challenges of legal citation network analysis on
case law 265
Dafne van Kuppevelt, Gijs van Dijck and Marcel Schaper
13 Needles in a haystack: using network analysis to identify cases
that are cited for general principles of law by the European
Court of Human Rights 293
Henrik Palmer Olsen and Magnus Esmark
14 Agent-based modeling for legal studies 312
Alex Schwartz
15 Analyzing high volumes of German court decisions in an
interdisciplinary class of law and computer science students 328
Janis Beckedorf, Dirk Hartung and Phillip Sittig
Index 345
The emergence of computational legal studies: an introduction 1
Ryan Whalen
1 Sense and similarity: automating legal text comparison 9
Wolfgang Alschner
2 Computational legal studies, digital humanities, and textual
analysis 29
Nina Varsava
3 Computational stylometry: predicting the authorship of
investment treaty awards 53
Malcolm Langford, Daniel Behn and Runar Lie
4 Automated classification of modes of moral reasoning in
judicial decisions 77
Nischal Mainali, Liam Meier, Elliott Ash and Daniel Chen
5 On dragons, caves, teeth, and claws: legal analytics and the
problem of court data access 95
Charlotte S. Alexander and Mohammad Javad Feizollahi
6 Computational legal studies in China: progress, challenges,
and future 124
Yingmao Tang and John Zhuang Liu
7 Measuring surveillance chill and other regulatory impacts at
scale 146
Jonathon W. Penney
8 Understanding content moderation systems: new methods to
understand internet governance at scale, over time, and across
platforms 166
Nicolas Suzor
9 Accounting for legal values 190
Kevin D. Ashley
10 Is legal cognition computational? (When will DeepVehicle
replace Judge Hercules?) 215
Paul Gowder
11 Rule by rules 238
Michael A. Livermore
12 Purposes and challenges of legal citation network analysis on
case law 265
Dafne van Kuppevelt, Gijs van Dijck and Marcel Schaper
13 Needles in a haystack: using network analysis to identify cases
that are cited for general principles of law by the European
Court of Human Rights 293
Henrik Palmer Olsen and Magnus Esmark
14 Agent-based modeling for legal studies 312
Alex Schwartz
15 Analyzing high volumes of German court decisions in an
interdisciplinary class of law and computer science students 328
Janis Beckedorf, Dirk Hartung and Phillip Sittig
Index 345
