The blogpost will examine how early comparative law practice helped spread certain tropes and stereotypes about different legal systems. In particular it will examine the still widely held belief, that Common Law systems, in which judges are able to create precedent to fit new facts, are more flexible than Civil Law systems in which judges supposedly must mechanically apply a written code or 'rulebook'. Taking the example of English and German Law, this blogpost will give an historical overview of this common legal myth and see how it holds up today.