Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. played an important part in the evolution of our constitutional law as well as the philosophical underpinnings of American jurisprudence. Before he began his tenure on the Massachusetts Supreme Court or his 30 years on the U.S. Supreme Court, Holmes wrote The Common Law, which traced the evolution of the common law dating back to the middle ages. The famous quote “The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience,” can be said to be the basis for pragmatic jurisprudence. The treatise established Holmes as a thought leader in post civil war America and to this day he influences other influencers, not the least of whom is Judge Richard Posner.
In 1897, the Harvard Law Review published the influential essay, The Path of Law, which further elaborated Holmes pragmatic view of law. I was reading it again the other night and wanted to introduce some quotes to the readers of this blog. So, according to Holmes, what is the practice of law? It is prophecy: Knowing enough to predict what judges (and juries) will do.
