Lost in Transactions: The Qualification of Expertise in U.S. Courts

Science studies scholars have long noticed that the use of experts in the U.S. legal system means that law and science mutually influence each other. Based on a study of the Amoco Cadiz litigation (1986-87), Professor Marion Fourcade's (UC-Berkeley) paper develops a model for thinking about the micro-sociological processes (both formal and informal) through which expertise is incorporated and used in legal proceedings and decisions. Co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology.