The article deals with the interaction of the Russian state and society in the legal sphere during the periods of stability, legal reforms and revolutionary transformations on the basis of specific historical and legal examples. In research on the history of state and law, on the one hand, these problems are constantly affected in various aspects, but on the other hand - there are no theoreti-cal generalizations on the basis of historical and legal material, the problem of interaction of the state and society in the legal sphere not only acquires relevance but also requires learning from the point of view of experience. It is concluded that the most intensive interaction between the state and society was during the periods of legal reforms. It also shows the pros and cons of the results of such interaction during each of three periods. Such forms of interaction between the state and society in the legal sphere, as granting of legal status to the custom, institute of «popular initiative» in legislative process, creation of official and scientific special commissions for study-ing the real legal situation, studying of the public response to the new regulatory acts or their implementation, law enforcement monitoring, mass failure to follow the rule of law, recourse to international adjudication by Russian citizens, have been considered.