Sources of Legal Data

Academic legal writers over the last 20 years have begun to engage in empirical research with increasing frequency. Where scholarly legal writing was once more "jurisprudential", focusing on discussing and analyzing legal tenants and theories from the perspective of "the law", there is an increasing amount of scholarly literature in the legal academe that discusses the societal impact of "the law" on various groups of people. This impact-based approach requires legal scholars to engage with data and statistics in ways that many of us have little experience or expertise with. Unlike other academic disciplines, statistics courses are not required either as a precursor to law school, nor as part of the typical U.S. JD legal curriculum. 

This guide hopes to serve as as a starting point for legal researchers looking to gather, use, and analyze data for use in academic legal scholarship. It should be considered neither comprehensive nor a substitute for formal empirical, statistical, or data science training. Should you be looking to engage in empirical legal analysis without the benefit of such formal training, please take a look at some of the "Guides from Other Law Schools" listed at the end of this guide to get further guidance and learn more about best practices. 

Responsible empirical research and writing in the legal field requires training and expertise that most legal writers do not have. However, many legal writers do have the need for reliable, accurate, and current statistical information to bolster elements of their argument.

Common types of data and statistics used by legal writers:

• Population and demographics data: who lives where, how many people are there, and what are their specific characteristics (age, race, gender, language, ethnicity, etc.). Examples:
  • Census data
  • Population density data
  • Voter registrations
• Administrative agency data: what do the populations served by individual administrative agencies look like and what behavioral activities are they participating in that are measured by that agency? Examples:
  • Education statistics
  • Environmental data
  • Labor data
  • Health and illness data
• Economic data : how is money being spent or earned, by whom, and where is the money going? Examples:
  • Property records
  • GDP
  • SEC filings
  • Household income
  • Inflation
  • Campaign finance records
• Geographic data: what are the physical boundaries and features of a jurisdiction (precinct, county, district, parish, state, etc.)
  • Redistricting maps
  • Official GIS maps and boundaries
  • Parcels and plat information
• Legal data: how can we measure the ways that the various branches of government and multiple sovereigns (federal, state, tribal, territorial, foreign, local) govern their constituents? Examples:
  • 50 state legislative/constitutional surveys
  • Comparative legal information relating to the structures of various similar governments
  • Judicial caseload information
  • Case filings and dockets
  • Law enforcement records and policies
• Historical data: how do the characteristics of today's society map to those same characteristics in the past?

The next section of this guide will present you with some common sources for this type of information that can be relied upon for legal researchers and writers.