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How Do Cause Lawyers Decide When and Where to Litigate on behalf of Their Cause?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Scott Barclay Open the ORCID record for Scott Barclay [Opens in a new window]  and
Daniel Chomsky
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Abstract

In this article, we begin to respond to the deceptively simple question: How do cause lawyers decide when and where to litigate on behalf of their cause? We consider the choice of location and timing faced by cause lawyers when more than one jurisdiction evinces a suitable legal environment for pursuing litigation on their cause. To consider this choice, we use evidence from the timing and actions of cause lawyers in the marriage equality cases in the United States from January 1990 through December 2004. And, we show the value in utilizing methods that are relatively novel in cause lawyering research—statistical models—to consider the apparent commonalities, beyond a suitable legal environment, across locations and time periods that might prompt cause lawyers into action.

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Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , September 2014 , pp. 595 - 620
Copyright
© 2014 Law and Society Association.

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