Research Professor
Joint appointment
John and Rylla Bosshard Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin
Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, Duke University; J.D., Northwestern University School of Law
Bio
Elizabeth Mertz is a legal anthropologist who examines legal language in the United States, with a special focus on law school education. She studies law schools as sites for training incipient…
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Research focus
Language and law, legal education, interdisciplinary translation, family law. Research focuses on the intersection of law and language, combining linguistic, anthropological, and legal perspectives. Empirical research at the ABF has centered on legal education. The first study, which was also funded by the Spencer Foundation, provided the most extensive observational data available to date on first-year law school teaching. The current project, funded by the ABF and the Law School Admission Council, examines the post-tenure experiences of law professors. Other research has addressed the process by which law translates the social world around it in a number of additional settings.