Cause lawyering is a frame of analysis making it possible to describe new relations between the law and society. How are the law and social movements connected? What is the role of lawyers in the translation of political problems into juridical questions? How can lawyers reconcile political commitment with professional practice? These questions are developed in collected essays by Austin Sarat and Stuart Scheingold in two volumes, which are introduced in this paper. While the first volume focuses on the definitions of cause lawyering in various political and professional contexts, the second takes into account relations between cause lawyering and the state in a globalized era.