Approaching Law through Conflicts

In this article the author presents Latour's
negative analysis of modernity and his
positive ethnographical studies of the
modes of existence of our modern world. I
will discuss the merits and disadvantages
of his specific approach on law - an institutional
ethnography of the French Conseil
d'Etat - within this framework. The analysis
will be supplemented with the results of
a conflict-based approach to a case study in
patent law at a law firm.

Keywords:latour, legal method, intellectual rights, legal ethnography, patent, legal philosophy, legal practice, law firm, law in action