Legal culture is created through a dynamic process in which local legal practice relies on official interpretations of the law while simultaneously challenging them. Thus the spirit of law is not handed down from the top by an elite, but is challenged and reinvented by local legal practices. County courts and neighborhood justice centers are examined in detail as examples of institutions that both invent and transmit law through the dynamic interaction of local empowerment and official control. Many legal subcultures are examined ranging from persuasion to confrontation or litigation, with emphasis on alternative dispute settlement. The historical role of courts as shapers of moral order is also discussed, along with the concept of popular or community control of the legal system. Law is invented by legal officials and ordinary people finding redress for their grievances. 97 footnotes.