法律现实主义（Legal realism）又称现实主义法学，是20世纪上半期在美国和斯堪的纳维亚半岛兴起的一支法学流派。其核心主张是，法律是人制定的，因此受制于人的弱点、缺陷、不完美。

如今，霍姆斯被公认为是美国法律现实主义的先驱，其他的代表人物包括罗斯科·庞德、大法官本杰明·卡多佐等。斯堪的纳维亚法律现实主义的代表人物是Axel Hagerstrom。

法律现实主义的主要观点有：

法律现实主义的全盛时期是20世纪20年代到40年代。第二次世界大战结束后，随着该学派的领军人物纷纷退休，法律现实主义逐渐衰落。但是，法律现实主义对随后的其他法律学派却产生了很深的影响，例如批判法律研究、女权主义法学等。

Legal realism is a naturalistic and positive (or descriptive) theory of adjudication. Realists believe that there is more to adjudication than the mechanical application of known legal principles to uncontroversial fact-finding as legal formalism believes. Some realists believe that one can never be sure that the facts and law identified in the judge's reasons were the actual reasons for the judgement, whereas other realists accept that a judge's reasons can often be relied upon, but not all of the time. Realists believe that the legal principles that legal formalism treat as uncontroversial actually hide contentious political and moral choices.