1. Traditionally, the study of how lawyers and legal institutions are depicted in literature; esp., the examination of law-related fiction as sociological evidence of how a given culture, at a given time, views law. — Also termed law in literature.
2. More modernly, the application of literary theory to legal texts, focusing esp. on lawyers’ rhetoric, logic, and style, as well as legal syntax and semantics. — Also termed law as literature.
3. The field or movement in which scholars devote themselves to this study or application.
4. The body of work produced by these scholars.
