Nicholas S. Timasheff, one of the founders of modern sociology of law, wrote the important Introduction to the Sociology of Law (1939). Timasheff published most of his writings on sociolegal matters during the 1930s and 1940s. After Eugen Ehrlich (1862–1922) in Vienna, Timasheff was likely the second scholar to teach sociology of law as a subject (at the University of St. Petersburg).

In 1932, Timasheff began a correspondence with fellow Russian émigré Pitirim Sorokin (1889–1968) on the latter's monumental four-volume treatise, Social and Cultural Dynamics (1937–1941). At Sorokin's invitation, Timasheff moved to the United States in 1936 and lectured for several years at Harvard University on the sociology of law. In 1940, Timasheff joined the faculty of arts and sciences at Fordham University, where he taught ...