Paper by Christopher Osakwe
It has been said that Louisiana civil law is the most celebrated contribution of Louisiana to the American culture. Some people think that it is ‘the most important accomplishment in the history of American law in the sense of the relation it bears to the future direction of American law.’ As the only mixed jurisdiction among the fifty states in the American union, Louisiana is in the enviable position of being able to draw upon the cultural heritage of two legal traditions—the civil and the common law. In Louisiana, the institutions of these two legal families exist side-by-side in an admirable state of peaceful coexistence. This coexistence enables students of comparative law to observe the relative merits of both systems. Because of this unique situation, Louisiana has emerged as the living laboratory for legal experimentation in American law. However, the fact that Louisiana's civil law exists as a lonely island, surrounded by a sea of aggressive common-law influences, often means that the richness of the civil-law tradition is not fully recognized in the other forty-nine states.
About the Author
Christopher Osakwe. Eason-Weinmann Professor of Comparative Law and Director, Eason-Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, Tulane University School of Law; LL.B. 1966, LL.M. 1967, Ph.D. 1970, Moscow State University (Lomonosov); J.S.D. 1974, University of Illinois.
Citation
60 Tul. L. Rev. 1105 (1986)