The Philadelphia Lawyer: A History, 1735-1945Susquehanna University Press, 1992 - 325 Seiten One focus of this book is to look at the interrelationship between the old Philadelphia upper class and the legal profession. The upper class refers to a group of old Philadelphia families whose members are descendants of financially successful individuals. Through their families, those men have had the means to enter, train in, and practice law. While over the two centuries covered here the percentage of upper class lawyers decreased, their influence for many years continued to surpass their numbers. In 1944, about 10 percent of all lawyers were listed in the Social Register. In the eight largest law firms in the city they accounted for 37 percent of the partners and 23 percent of the associates. But by 1990, their influence was waning: they represented only about two percent of all lawyers in the city. Moreover, in the eight largest law firms in the city, 12 percent of the partners were in the Social Register, but only one percent of the associates. Indeed, with the twenty-first century approaching, the old upper class was - and is - becoming increasingly irrelevant to Philadelphia law. In each chapter, an examination is made of the emerging American legal system and the training and practice of law in a given historical period. Before the Revolution most American law was British law. After the Revolution there were often bitter struggles over the continued use of British common law. Rapidly the British common law was modified, giving way to American common law - and that was the major focus of law up until the Civil War. Following the Civil War and well into the twentieth century the major thrust of law was related to business and industry, especially corporations. By the 1930s there was an increasing focus on Federal Commissions and statute law. Over the decades the training of lawyers underwent change. Until the twentieth century, most lawyers were trained in law offices, and it was only slowly that law schools became the accepted means of legal training. For most of American history, the lawyer practiced alone and often appeared as an advocate in court where his forensic skills were highly valued. For the various historical eras, this study attempts to show how the Philadelphia lawyer lived, some of his values, how he learned the law, and how he practiced it. Anecdotal material is used to illustrate these points whenever possible. Forty-two Philadelphia lawyers were interviewed who, for the most part, had first entered the bar in the 1920s and 1930s. Six modern-day Philadelphia lawyers were interviewed at length, and their insights are presented in the epilogue. Following each chapter there is a profile of a Philadelphia lawyer contemporary to the period discussed. Most of the profiles are of men who, considered outstanding lawyers in their own time, have come to be regarded as outstanding in the history of Philadelphia law. |
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Seite 4
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Seite 13
... England usually treated the trade of each colony as if that colony were only a few miles away from London . The commercial law that developed in America concerned with trade had to be changed from the laws used in England . Ultimately ...
... England usually treated the trade of each colony as if that colony were only a few miles away from London . The commercial law that developed in America concerned with trade had to be changed from the laws used in England . Ultimately ...
Seite 14
... England was not systematic , but rather was based on old traditions and often historical peculiarities . For example , in the seventeenth century the ancient Courts of the Shire were still very active in England . In England land was ...
... England was not systematic , but rather was based on old traditions and often historical peculiarities . For example , in the seventeenth century the ancient Courts of the Shire were still very active in England . In England land was ...
Seite 15
... England . Furthermore , the legal needs of a small colony in Massachusetts that was run by clergymen were different from what rapidly became the busy commercial center of Philadelphia . In the early years , colonial laws were seen as ...
... England . Furthermore , the legal needs of a small colony in Massachusetts that was run by clergymen were different from what rapidly became the busy commercial center of Philadelphia . In the early years , colonial laws were seen as ...
Seite 16
... England had evolved to meet highly specialized vested interests , but in the colonies they had to meet the more general problems of a developing society . The laws laid down in the early days of the colonies by the British were like ...
... England had evolved to meet highly specialized vested interests , but in the colonies they had to meet the more general problems of a developing society . The laws laid down in the early days of the colonies by the British were like ...
Inhalt
9 | |
13 | |
27 | |
Colonial Period 1750s | 37 |
John Dickinson 17321808 | 49 |
Revolutionary War Era 17701788 | 55 |
Philadelphia Nations Capital 17881800 | 72 |
William Lewis 17511819 | 83 |
John Graver Johnson 18411917 | 177 |
Progressive Era 18901910 | 194 |
Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker 18431916 | 211 |
World War I Decade 19101920 | 217 |
Boies Penrose 18601921 | 229 |
1920s | 233 |
George Wharton Pepper 18671961 | 243 |
Great Depression 1930s | 248 |
New Nation 18001830 | 88 |
Jared Ingersoll 17491822 | 103 |
Jacksonian Era 18301850 | 106 |
Sidney George Fisher 18091871 | 121 |
Civil War Era 18501870 | 127 |
Horace Binney 17801875 | 145 |
Corporate Era 18701890 | 157 |
Francis Biddle 18861968 | 269 |
Early 1990s | 274 |
Notes | 290 |
Select Bibliography | 304 |
Name Index | 315 |
Subject Index | 321 |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
admission admitted American Bar Association American law Andrew Hamilton appointed argument attorney became become beginning lawyer Biddle chief justice Civil clients colonies common law common pleas Constitution continued corporation lawyer courtroom Dickinson early economic elected England English federal Francis Biddle George George Wharton Pepper graduated Harvard Horace Binney Ibid important increase increasingly influence Inns of Court interest James Wilson Jared Ingersoll John John Dickinson Johnson judges judicial jury large law firms Law Academy law office law students lawyers in Philadelphia leaders legal education legal profession Lewis Middle Temple never nineteenth century old upper class partners Penn Law School Pennypacker Penrose Pepper percent Philadelphia lawyers political position practice law practice of law professional railroad Revolution Social Register society sole practitioner successful Supreme Court Temple twentieth century University of Pennsylvania upper class lawyers wealth William William Rawle women lawyers wrote York
Beliebte Passagen
Seite 74 - And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.
Seite 77 - learning, and moneyed men, that talk so finely, and gloss over matters so smoothly, to make us, poor illiterate people, swallow down the pill, expect to get into Congress themselves ; they expect to be the managers of this Constitution, and get all the power and all the money into their own hands, and then they will swallow up all us little folks, like the great leviathan, Mr. President ; yes, just as the whale swallowed up Jonah.
Seite 74 - I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.
Seite 33 - ... it is not the cause of a poor printer, nor of New York alone, which you are now trying. No! It may in its consequence affect every freeman that lives under a British government on the Main of America.
Seite 36 - That the printing presses shall be free to every person, who undertakes to examine the proceedings of the legislature or any branch of government: and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man; and every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
Seite 34 - To say that corrupt officers are appointed to administer affairs is certainly a reflection on the government. If people should not be called to account for possessing the people with an ill opinion of the government, no government can subsist. For it is very necessary for all governments that the people should have a good opinion of it.
Seite 42 - Of lawyers and physicians I shall say nothing, because this country is very peaceable and healthy ; long may it so continue and never have occasion for the tongue of the one nor the pen of the other, both equally destructive to men's estates and lives ; besides forsooth, they, hangmanlike, have a license to murder and make mischief.
Seite 33 - ... every man who prefers freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honor you as men who have baffled the attempt of tyranny, and, by an impartial and uncorrupt verdict, have laid a noble foundation for securing to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbors that to which nature and the laws of our country have given...
Seite 163 - The paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.
Seite 163 - The law of nature destines and qualifies the female sex for the bearing and nurture of the children of our race and for the custody of the homes of the world and their maintenance in love and honor.