Thursday, May 4, 2023

Legal Historians’ Reflections on “Outside In: The Oral History of Guido Calabresi” – Introduction

As we noted earlier this year, Oxford University Press recently published a two-volume oral history (titled Outside In) of the well-known legal scholar, former law school dean, and federal judge Guido Calabresi. Author Norman I. Silber (Hofstra University) conducted many interviews with Calabresi over a period of years, then arranged the contents of the interviews into chapters, which he supplemented with commentary (his own original research on the topics and figures in each chapter). (The TOC is available here.)
 
The oral histories will be a fascinating read for the many people who have encountered Calabresi over the course of his life, including his many former students and colleagues, his scholarly interlocutors, and the lawyers and litigants who have appeared before him as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 

But the oral histories are also a treasure trove for legal historians, as our forthcoming series of posts will show. Over the coming weeks, we will post reflections from scholars who were once law clerks for Calabresi and who have since made careers out of the study of legal history. Stay tuned! 

-- Karen Tani