Brigham compares and contrasts the CLS and Law and Economics movements. Despite their great differences, however, the two movements are both progeny of Legal Realism. Although Legal Realism is somewhat cynical about what law is and downplays the power of legal texts, it leaves intact the notion of the institutional and professional structure and power of the legal system. Law is what the judges say it is. According to Brigham, the legal realist s notion of law is a common-sense one.
Law is more constitutive than instrumental.
It sets the stage and defines the boundaries in which interests compete in the legal arena. Still, in the legal realists conception, the institutions and general structure of law remains. ADR is akin in some respects to Legal Realism. It takes advantage of the fact that law offers a cover for politics. In effect, it proposes a solution to private disputes that closely resembles politics bargaining and compromise.