Thomas F. Burke

I research and write about the causes and consequences of the American tendency to use litigation to address social problems.

I'm the co-editor, with Jeb Barnes, of "Varieties of Legal Order "(Routledge Press, 2018), in which leading scholars examine the politics of litigation and regulation; the co-author, with Lief Carter of the 9th edition of "Reason in Law" (University of Chicago Press, 2016), a critical analysis of the rhetorical techniques of judges and of the interaction of law and politics; and co-author with Prof. Barnes of "How Policy Shapes Politics" (Oxford University Press, 2015), which probes the political consequences of using courts and litigation in public policy.

My first book was "Lawyers, Lawsuits and Legal Rights: The Struggle Over Litigation in American Society" (University of California Press, 2002). The dissertation on which that book was based won the 1996 Edwin S. Corwin Award from the American Political Science Association for best dissertation in the field of public law.