The New Legal Realism's Latest Developments and Its Inspirations

The new legal realism draws on the old legal realism from the 20 s and 30 s of the twentieth century led by Karl N.Llewellyn.After more than ten years,it not only rejects the myth of the law,but also promotes realistic attitudes in legal research,emphasizes the bottom-up multi-method empirical research,and admits partly the function of rule of law,the neutrality of judges and the value of traditional legal methods.It brings in the eyes of legal scholars the influence and function of extralegal factors,including politics,personal bias and economics.This movement was captured by Chinese scholars and introduced into China several years ago.However,it has not yet brought about nationwide debate on doctrinal scholarship.This article summarizes its latest developments,introduces experiences drawn from interdisciplinary and legal empirical research,and makes some advice on China's legal research.It aims to update Chinese scholars on this movement,broaden the sphere of Chinese scholars' vision,promote the use of interdisciplinary method,remind them of the limits and possible improvements of current Chinese empirical legal research,and contribute to the understandings of the legal theories of American judicial research system.