find something that you are really interested in and explore it empirically. Ask how did it really work. What was it like for people? What difference did it make to people? Whatever it is you are exploring. If they say, I’m more interested in the thoughts of some legal thinker, then I would say goodbye and good luck. Legal change, yes. But always in context. Ask yourself about context. And explore. We have the expression where the rubber meets the road – that is, where things actually operate. That doesn’t mean you are necessarily looking at the lowest levels. It means asking, what’s happening? And what does it all mean?’ The social meaning, that is. One study I was working on with a student, about the 1960s in one county of California: applications for restraining orders. Women whose husbands had beaten them. We looked at a sample of these applications, and asked, who are these people?What kinds of complaints are they making? Who are the men they are complaining about?’ Interestingly, men were not just victims; some of them brought complaints. We were not concerned with what the Supreme Court of California might have said. But rather, who are these local people? What’s their problem? And what do they think the law can do for them? Another thing I would say to a young legal historian is this. Suppose you were in English literature, and you said, I would like to write a dissertation about Shakespeare’s Hamlet. My advice would be, don’t do it. Hundreds of great scholars have worked on Hamlet; your chances of saying something new and different are really small. On the other hand, we have thousands of counties in the United States with records, and nobody has looked at them. And if you choose to look at some of these archives you can’t fail. Whatever you do will be original and add to knowledge. And that’s a good way to start. That’s what I would tell them. Of course, they wouldn’t pay attention. You’re welcome. lawrence m. friedman in interview 121 What about legal change? They certainly would! Thank you very much, Lawrence.
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