Law and Culture
Updated May 13, 2026
Poetry, dogs, romantic films, the war on terrorism, dinner conversation, and the more peculiar corners of legal culture.
About this section
"Law and Culture" is where Burt Hanson wrote about everything else. The Cardozo essay on cadences. The Holmes essay on epigrams. The piece on what specifically lawyers find compelling about The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib. The pieces on dogs in courthouses (Burt had known four bailiff dogs, one therapy dog, and a stray that wandered into a 1972 jury trial). The essays on hereinafter and aforementioned and the small comfort of a private language in a public profession. The piece on the war on terrorism that he wrote in 2007 and which has aged better than most.
Featured essays
- Poetry and the Common Law: Cardozo wrote in cadences, Holmes wrote in epigrams
- Dogs I Have Known in Courthouses: four bailiff dogs, one therapy dog, one stray
- The War on Terrorism and the Rule of Law: from a working lawyer's desk, 2007
- Romantic Films Lawyers Love: a short, affectionate list including at least one defense of Adam's Rib