Luck, the old saying goes, is “opportunity meets preparedness.” Many veteran scholars attest to the importance of luck in research projects and the longer arc of their careers, but the maxim reminds us that the researcher can set up for lucky events by being ready to recognize and seize opportunities when they present themselves. Regulatory Justice, Robert Kagan's dissertation and first book, began in such a moment. The spark of interest, generated by a television news item, and Kagan's rapid response to get into the field, do not match the process laid out in textbooks on research methods. For a start, as he describes it, the questions animating the project would remain latent while he rode the wave of activity in a newly created regulatory agency.

Yet the development of Kagan's project, as much as it may comfort those who cannot see the path forward in a project, is also instructive about the little things one can do to create a project from a kernel of curiosity: formulating an instinct about the gaps in existing scholarship, making use of every available resource and connection, being prepared to take risks, and investing in the project in the form of habits of diligence and care. Although Kagan had some kinds of resources – that is, the preparedness – not possessed by many students of Law and Society, including prior experience as a litigator, the general suggestion may stand: opportunities abound for the enterprising scholar to observe the law in action.