Litigation Nation

July 29, 2019
In this engaging and comprehensive survey of American history via the courtroom, legal historian Hoffer (Uncivil Warriors: The Lawyers’ Civil War) persuasively argues that intense litigation signals a period of social upheaval, “a temporary disparity between new and old social norms.” Each chapter focuses on a cluster of case studies that illuminate a contested “phase change” in American identity and culture. For example, he argues, real estate title cases in the colonial U.S. gave voice to mutual frustrations between yeoman farmers and a new commercial elite. Before the Civil War, fraud suits connected to slave trading illuminated increasing Southern anxiety about the future of the institution; cases in the North regarding back pay and the legality of craft unions bespoke concerns about the dignity of the individual in industrial society. The second half of the book posits that litigation helped extend the rights of the individual, as in stockholder suits against the fraudulent machinations of Gilded Age railroad financiers and consumer class action torts against corporate wrongdoing. Chapters regarding changes in divorce and the landmark civil rights lawsuits in the mid-20th century illuminate shifting paradigms in gender and race relations, respectively. This eloquent, well-organized book will particularly delight academic readers new to legal history and will give those in the legal field a greater sense of their profession’s role in shaping America’s culture and character.

July 19, 2019

The United States has more civil litigation than any other nation in the Western world. This book attempts to make sense of this phenomenon by examining the issue from colonial to contemporary times. Hoffer (history, Univ. of Georgia; A Nation of Laws; The Search for Justice) is well qualified to tackle this difficult topic. Chapters cover defamation, real estate buying/selling, slavery, labor, stock swindles (especially in railroading), divorce, civil rights, and product liability/mass tort litigation. In addition, the author traces wounded honor and personal dignity as values that have evolved over the centuries, most recently with the rise of "identity politics." As an alternative to violence, Hoffer concludes, litigation is a useful tool. VERDICT Hoffer's study covers a vast topic in a clear and concise manner that will appeal to those interested in American law, especially historians and legal scholars.--William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.