Theoretically-Informed Empirical Research in the Legal Academy: Shauhin Talesh’s New Legal Realist Vision

Season two of our podcast highlights the work of a new generation of NLR scholars.  This third episode presents an interview with Professor Shauhin Talesh, who has recently co-edited a book with Elizabeth Mertz and Heinz Klug titled Research Handbook on Modern Legal Realism.  In this podcast, he explains how NLR fits within his pathbreaking work on how private organizations shape and influence the content and meaning of legislation and regulation.  In particular, he discusses how private organizations respond to legal regulations and what impact such responses have on civil and consumer rights in terms of procedural justice and substantive fairness.  Recognized internationally as one of the leading scholars on law, organizations, and compliance, Talesh is a prominent voice in a new generation of interdisciplinary scholars that explore theoretically informed empirical questions and translate social, economic and political contexts using multiple methods into an understanding of law.  His impact in law and social science journals and traditional law reviews is a model for scholars interested in using ground up social-science research to answer not just important legal questions but to inform policy debates in society.  In addition to discussing his research agenda, Talesh highlights in this podcast the core components of the new Modern Legal Realism handbook and how faculty in law schools and legal studies programs can also incorporate NLR into teaching undergraduate and graduate students.