This monograph explores the special considerations in coding text when the relevant legal materials are judicial decisions. The content of case law merits careful study not simply because judicial opinions reflect or respond to the law, but because they are the law. But, more than this, judicial opinions are detailed repositories that show what kinds of disputes come before courts, how the parties frame their disputes, and how judges reason to their conclusions.
This monograph is included as a chapter in the forthcoming "Public Health Law Research: Theory and Methods" book, which is expected to be published in Spring 2013.
Author(s): Mark Hall, JD