As an intellectual movement, the law and economics discipline has three characteristics that are at once strengths and obstacles: first, the vast breadth of interdisciplinary contributions, not only from lawyers and economists but also from psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, historians, mathematicians, and philosophers; second, the blistering pace at which new ideas emerge, develop, transform, fuse, and divide; and, third, the deeply technical components inherent to the law and to economics. Although these characteristics have imbued the field with scientific precision, establishing law and economics in the mainstream of legal scholarship, they have also brought about a prodigious expansion in terminology.

Communication problems plagued the early years of law and economics, as scholars from disparate disciplines struggled to find a common language to accommodate their diverse academic backgrounds. Over the years these communication problems became less pronounced, as a shared vocabulary developed. New terms were invented and established terms from specialized fields were repurposed in an interdisciplinary context. The new language has been a mixed blessing for the growth of law and economics, for, while it facilitates communication between scholars within the field, it also creates barriers for scholars working outside it. This dictionary aims at reducing those barriers.