In this collection of enlightening essays, legal scholars examine what is—and what ought to be—canonical in the study of law.

Every discipline has its canon: the set of standard texts, approaches, examples, and stories that form the lingua franca of its practitioners. In Legal Canons, some of today’s finest legal minds seek to map out the legal canon and the way in which law is taught today.

In order to understand how the twin ideas of canons and canonicity operate in law, each essay focuses on a particular aspect, from contracts and constitutional law to questions of race and gender. The ascendance of law and economics, feminism, critical race theory, and gay legal studies, as well as the increasing influence of both rational-actor methodology and postmodernism, are all scrutinized by the leading scholars in the field.

A timely and comprehensive volume, Legal Canons articulates the need for, and means to, opening the debate on canonicity in legal studies.