ABSTRACT
The central issue raised by the contemporary public law system is the nature of the relationship between law, courts, and lawyering, on the one hand, and politics and policymaking, on the other. Rebellions Lawyering, by Gerald López, addresses a quite different question than that examined by The Hollow Hope: how should a "progressive" or "public interest" lawyer conduct herself both personally and professionally in order to advance the cause of social change? "Court fatalists" maintain that the effectiveness of social reform depends on factors that courts can perhaps reinforce, but to which they are otherwise either irrelevant or epiphenomenal. Rebellions Lawyering and The Hollow Hope share an important insight. Liberal activist courts are not as effective in producing enduring social change as many of their proponents would wish. Partly because of this, López urges "progressive" lawyers to put their energies and resources elsewhere—into community organizing and political mobilization.
