  Visual representation of the law and legal process can aid in recall and
discussion of complicated legal concepts, yet is a skill rarely taught in law
schools. This work investigates the use of flowcharts and similar
process-oriented diagrams in contemporary legal literature through a literature
review and concept-based content analysis. Information visualisations (infovis)
identified in the literature are classified into eleven described archetypal
diagram types, and the results describe their usage quantitatively by type,
year, publication venue and legal domain. We found that the use of infovis in
legal literature is extremely rare, identifying not more than ten articles in
each calendar year. We also identified that the concept flow diagram is most
commonly used, and that Unified Modelling Language (UML) is the most frequently
applied representational approach. This work posits a number of serious
questions for legal educators and practicing lawyers regarding how infovis in
legal education and practice may improve access to justice, legal education and
lay comprehension of complex legal frameworks and processes. It concludes by
asking how we can expect communities to understand and adhere to laws that have
become so complex and verbose as to be incomprehensible even to many of those
who are learned in the law?
