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Network Analysis of Case Law/Evidence
Method evidence record

Network Analysis of Case Law

Network analysis of case law applies graph-theoretic and network science methods to study the structure and dynamics of legal precedent systems. Developed systematically by James Fowler and colleagues in 2011, this method treats legal citations as directed edges in a network where nodes represent court decisions and edges represent precedent relationships. By analyzing the topology of these networks, researchers uncover patterns in how law evolves, which precedents are most influential, and how legal doctrine spreads across jurisdictions.

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Source record

Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.

Network Analysis of Case Law and Legal Precedent
Taxonomic method record · process-pipeline / forensics
  • Lupo, G., & Bailey, J. (2014). Artificial intelligence and legal practice. Academic Press. · URL
  • Fowler, J. H., Johnson, S. L., & Spriggs, J. F. (2011). Network analysis and the law: measuring the web of law. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 8(1), 171-198. · URL
  • Bommarito, M., & Katz, D. M. (2012). Properties of the United States code: Network analysis and textual entropy. SSRN Electronic Journal. · URL
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Curated claims

Claims persisted in the evidence ledger, each with its own assessment.

No curated claims yet

This view does not invent a claim assessment when the ledger has none.

Related methods

Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.

Same method familyCrime Linkage Analysismachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyGeographic Profilingmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyRisk Terrain Modelingmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.

Evidence status

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Bibliographic sources are present. Claim-level evidence review has not been performed.

Sources

3 recorded citations, copied from the method source record.

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