Carefully Tailored: Doctrinal Methods and Empirical Contributions

Doctrinal research is the distinct methodological approach of lawyers and a core contribution of legal studies to human knowledge. Yet, lawyers do not often explain their doctrinal research methods and by implication struggle to articulate where empirical research can make helpful contributions. The articles suggests that doctrinal research is characterised by three core features that make specific assumptions about law: (i) legal sources are the exclusive avenue for altering rules and principles of law; (ii) legal sources are intelligible, coherent and consistent; and (iii) the success of any doctrinal account is contingent on legal sources alone. On this basis, we can appreciate that empirical contributions are essential: (i) to an accurate understanding of the law; (ii) to critiques, because the law lacks frameworks to evaluate its own operation; and (iii) to surveying legal sources. However, this insight comes with a word of caution: not all empirical methods are well suited to providing doctrinally relevant insights and there are some sophisticated pitfalls to avoid along the way.