Whatever law offers, it never does it alone. It always does whatever it does within societies where a lot else is going on. Law has to make its way in various terrains full of obstacles, rivals, and alternatives. Chapter 9 explores some of the consequences of this ever-present buzz, movement, and competition for the ways law works in societies. Above all, it stresses the complexity of social causality that lawyers often ignore. Law sends messages. Once sent, they compete with messages from other sources, often more salient for many people, and they will be variably received, interpreted, and acted upon depending in part on the relationships between the centre and various ‘semi-autonomous fields’ and ‘indigenous orderings’ that occupy the society. In many of these fields other sources of norms and settlements will be available and sought. This is not a pathology but a reality. Those concerned to temper power need to take it into account.