Thomas Scheffer led the law-in-action Research Group. Currently he is Heisenberg scholar at the Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. He published on communication/ knowledge processes in migration control, social work, parliamentary inquiries, and legal casework. His research interests include micro-sociology, sociology of knowledge, political ethnography, and cultural comparison/translation. Scheffer is spokesperson of the section “sociology of law” in the German Sociological Association.

• List of FiguresForewordIntroductionOn field accessRendering case-making observableOutlook1. A case of assault: The rise and fall of an alibiThe ontological versions of the alibi-story and its analysabilityThe rise of the alibiIntermezzoThe story’s declineTowards the duality of mobilisation2. Framing law-in-actionWhere and when is the field? Event and process in Social TheoryEventful process, processed eventsWeighing event and processOutlook: the adversarial procedure as eventful process3. A case of indecent assault: Fitting sleep-walking expertise inInterrogating a single caseExpert evidence in criminal proceedingsSleep-walking expertise and its relevant other knowledgesDiscussion: Distributed knowing and judicial decision-making4. File-work and procedural careStyles of file-work in a criminal law firmGood reasons for different styles of file-workConclusion: Legal care in context5. A case of wounding with intent: The barrister’s day in courtBefore trialThe barrister’s work during trialThe closing speechConclusion: The minutiae of case-representation6. Procedural resources and procedural infrastructureThe courtThe fileThe storyTowards procedural infrastructure7. A case of murder: No regret! Direct and indirect moralisingThe moralising sites in a Crown Court caseDiscussion: Characteristics and rationale of indirect moralising8. The case in the case-systemThe case as tripartite signCase, fact-sensitiveCase, ruled and rulingCase, decision-orientedThe archive of the case-systemOff the case: Components in isolationConclusion: The micro-foundations of adversarialismMechanisms of case-makingComplexities of case-makingEpilogueReferencesIndex

"The book will prove eye-opening for those considering entering the legal profession, either as solicitor or barrister. [...] Adversarial Case-Making’s ethnographic and micro-sociological methods provide insights that cannot be achieved other than through years of fieldwork and the filing, coding and categorizing of mountains of ethnographic data, such as files, documents, meeting notes, transcripts and archive material." - Lisa Vanhala, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Human Rights, in: Law & Politics Book Review, 2011, pp. 693-695

Thomas Scheffer led the law-in-action Research Group. Currently he is Heisenberg scholar at the Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. He published on communication/ knowledge processes in migration control, social work, parliamentary inquiries, and legal casework. His research interests include micro-sociology, sociology of knowledge, political ethnography, and cultural comparison/translation. Scheffer is spokesperson of the section “sociology of law” in the German Sociological Association.

• List of FiguresForewordIntroductionOn field accessRendering case-making observableOutlook1. A case of assault: The rise and fall of an alibiThe ontological versions of the alibi-story and its analysabilityThe rise of the alibiIntermezzoThe story’s declineTowards the duality of mobilisation2. Framing law-in-actionWhere and when is the field? Event and process in Social TheoryEventful process, processed eventsWeighing event and processOutlook: the adversarial procedure as eventful process3. A case of indecent assault: Fitting sleep-walking expertise inInterrogating a single caseExpert evidence in criminal proceedingsSleep-walking expertise and its relevant other knowledgesDiscussion: Distributed knowing and judicial decision-making4. File-work and procedural careStyles of file-work in a criminal law firmGood reasons for different styles of file-workConclusion: Legal care in context5. A case of wounding with intent: The barrister’s day in courtBefore trialThe barrister’s work during trialThe closing speechConclusion: The minutiae of case-representation6. Procedural resources and procedural infrastructureThe courtThe fileThe storyTowards procedural infrastructure7. A case of murder: No regret! Direct and indirect moralisingThe moralising sites in a Crown Court caseDiscussion: Characteristics and rationale of indirect moralising8. The case in the case-systemThe case as tripartite signCase, fact-sensitiveCase, ruled and rulingCase, decision-orientedThe archive of the case-systemOff the case: Components in isolationConclusion: The micro-foundations of adversarialismMechanisms of case-makingComplexities of case-makingEpilogueReferencesIndex

"The book will prove eye-opening for those considering entering the legal profession, either as solicitor or barrister. [...] Adversarial Case-Making’s ethnographic and micro-sociological methods provide insights that cannot be achieved other than through years of fieldwork and the filing, coding and categorizing of mountains of ethnographic data, such as files, documents, meeting notes, transcripts and archive material." - Lisa Vanhala, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Human Rights, in: Law & Politics Book Review, 2011, pp. 693-695

Thomas Scheffer led the law-in-action Research Group. Currently he is Heisenberg scholar at the Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. He published on communication/ knowledge processes in migration control, social work, parliamentary inquiries, and legal casework. His research interests include micro-sociology, sociology of knowledge, political ethnography, and cultural comparison/translation. Scheffer is spokesperson of the section “sociology of law” in the German Sociological Association.

• List of FiguresForewordIntroductionOn field accessRendering case-making observableOutlook1. A case of assault: The rise and fall of an alibiThe ontological versions of the alibi-story and its analysabilityThe rise of the alibiIntermezzoThe story’s declineTowards the duality of mobilisation2. Framing law-in-actionWhere and when is the field? Event and process in Social TheoryEventful process, processed eventsWeighing event and processOutlook: the adversarial procedure as eventful process3. A case of indecent assault: Fitting sleep-walking expertise inInterrogating a single caseExpert evidence in criminal proceedingsSleep-walking expertise and its relevant other knowledgesDiscussion: Distributed knowing and judicial decision-making4. File-work and procedural careStyles of file-work in a criminal law firmGood reasons for different styles of file-workConclusion: Legal care in context5. A case of wounding with intent: The barrister’s day in courtBefore trialThe barrister’s work during trialThe closing speechConclusion: The minutiae of case-representation6. Procedural resources and procedural infrastructureThe courtThe fileThe storyTowards procedural infrastructure7. A case of murder: No regret! Direct and indirect moralisingThe moralising sites in a Crown Court caseDiscussion: Characteristics and rationale of indirect moralising8. The case in the case-systemThe case as tripartite signCase, fact-sensitiveCase, ruled and rulingCase, decision-orientedThe archive of the case-systemOff the case: Components in isolationConclusion: The micro-foundations of adversarialismMechanisms of case-makingComplexities of case-makingEpilogueReferencesIndex

"The book will prove eye-opening for those considering entering the legal profession, either as solicitor or barrister. [...] Adversarial Case-Making’s ethnographic and micro-sociological methods provide insights that cannot be achieved other than through years of fieldwork and the filing, coding and categorizing of mountains of ethnographic data, such as files, documents, meeting notes, transcripts and archive material." - Lisa Vanhala, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Human Rights, in: Law & Politics Book Review, 2011, pp. 693-695