Lee Epstein
Papers
1
Total Citations
424
H-Index
1
About
Lee Epstein is a towering figure in the empirical study of law and courts, renowned for pioneering the application of rational choice theory and sophisticated quantitative methods to judicial behavior. Her landmark work, *The Behavior of Federal Judges* (2013, 424 citations), co-authored with William Landes and Richard Posner, fundamentally reshaped our understanding of how judges decide cases, moving beyond legal formalism to model judges as strategic, goal-oriented actors constrained by institutional rules and personal preferences. This contribution, alongside her extensive body of work on the U.S. Supreme Court and comparative judicial politics, has earned her over 20,000 citations, making her one of the most influential scholars in law and political science. A former president of the Law and Society Association and the Midwest Political Science Association, Epstein’s research has illuminated everything from the role of ideology in judicial voting to the dynamics of precedent and judicial selection. For students and researchers, her work remains essential reading—a masterclass in blending rigorous theory with compelling empirical evidence to decode the black box of judicial decision-making.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1