At twenty-three, Thomas Jefferson became the youngest practitioner before Virginia's highest court. This is the first book to explore in depth the eight years that Jefferson spent as a trial lawyer. Frank L. Dewey considers how Jefferson prepared for his career, how he acquired a clientele, what kind of cases he handled, how he fared financially, and why he retired from the law. The principal sources for this account are found in unpublished notes of Jefferson. As Dewey pieces together these notes, a larger picture emerges. The appeal of Jefferson is universal, and Thomas Jefferson, Lawyer fills an important gap in our knowledge about him.

Looks at the life and times of the multifaceted man who wrote the Declaration of Independence and later became the third president of the United States.

Explores the critical role that American lawyers have played since the nation’s founding and what the future holds for the profession The American legal profession faces significant challenges: the changing nature of work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic; calls for greater racial and gender justice; threats to democracy; the inaccessibility of legal services for the majority of Americans; the risk of obsolescence owing to the emergence of new technologies; and the disaffection many lawyers feel toward their work. Ambitious in its scope yet straightforward in its approach, Lawyer Nation seeks to address these crises by offering a path forward for the legal profession. Ray Brescia provides concrete ideas for transforming law into a field whose services are accessible, egalitarian, and viable in the long term. Further, he addresses how the profession can improve so that the health of its practitioners is not compromised in the process. If the legal profession does not respond to its crises in an effective way, he argues, the dysfunction and unfairness plaguing the legal world will deepen. This is an unprecedented opportunity for the world of law to reimagine its future in way that honors its highest ideals: preserving the rule of law, protecting individual liberty, and addressing social inequality in all of its forms.

Virginia men of law constituted one of the first learned professions in colonial America, and Virginia legal culture had an important and lasting impact on American political institutions and jurisprudence. Exploring the book collections of these Virginians therefore offers insight into the history of the book and the intellectual history of early America. It also addresses essential questions of how English culture migrated to the American colonies and was transformed into a distinctive American culture. Focusing on the law books that colonial Virginians acquired, how they used them, and how they eventually produced a native-grown legal literature, this collection explores the law and intellectual culture of the Commonwealth and reveals the origins of a distinctively Virginian legal literature. The contributors argue that understanding the development of early Virginia legal history—as shown through these book collections—not only illuminates important aspects of Virginia’s history and culture; it also underlies a thorough understanding of colonial and revolutionary American history and culture.

This is the first book that directly addresses the cultural history of the legal profession. An international team of scholars canvasses wide-ranging issues concerning the culture of the legal profession and the wider cultural significance of lawyers,including consideration of the relation to cultural processes of state formation and colonisation. The essays describe and analyse significant aspects of the cultural history of the legal profession in England, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Finland. The book seeks to understand the complex ways in which lawyers were imaginatively and institutionally constructed, and their larger cultural significance. It illustrates both the diversity and the potential of a cultural approach to lawyers in history. Contents: Introduction and Overview; Part I The Formation of Lawyers; Part II Lawyers and the Liberal State; Part III Work and Representations; Part IV Lawyers and Colonialism Contributors: David Applebaum, Professor of History, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Harold Dick, Barrister and Solicitor, City of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Ann Fidler, Assistant Professor and Dean, History Department, Honors Tutorial College, Ohio University; Jean-Louis Halperin, University of Bourgogne, CNRS; Esa Konttinen.Senior Lecturer of Sociology, University of Jyraskyla, Finland; David Lemmings, Associate Professor of History, University of Newcastle, Australia; Anne McGillivray, Professor of Law, University of Manitoba, Canada; Rob McQueen, Professor of Law, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; Kjell A Modeer, Lund University, Sweden; W. Wesley Pue, Nemetz Chair in Legal History, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia; John Savage, Assistant Professor, History Department, Lehigh University; Hannes Siegrist, Professor of Modern European History, University of Leipzig; David Sugarman, Professor of Law, Law School, Lancaster University.

This hysterical, scholarly look at the history of lawyers is a roller coaster ride through history, viewed from a lawyer's perspective. This book will provide you with a good sense of the primal ooze that gave rise to the first lawyer and the religious, cultural, philosophical, economic, and political forces that have preserved lawyers from extinction--at least so far.

Presents a novel theory explaining how and why politicians and lawyers politicise courts.

Until the mid-1700s, law was not thought of as a science or profession. Most Virginians adhered to the English country tradition that considered law to be a local and personal affair. The growth of cities and business, however, guaranteed that disputes would spill over county boundaries. As law proliferated and became more complex, it encouraged the growth of a legal profession composed of men who shared specialized knowledge of law and the courts. Originally published in 1981. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Who is your lawyer, and what does he or she really do? That's a question that's not easy to answer--unless you go the source. And unfortunately, most lawyers won't give you a straight answer. In What Your Lawyer May Not Want You to Know, Billy F. Brown unveils the mystery of how lawyers work and how they communicate. In simple language, he helps you understand what happens in a law practice, and he explains the problems clients encounter with lawyers and vice versa. You'll learn - how to determine whether you need a lawyer; - what questions to ask a lawyer; - why lawyers generally disagree with each other; and - how to gain considerable advantages by understanding the legal process. Whether you're a client, a lawyer, or someone in law school, this guidebook will provide you with important insights about the nature of the legal process. Get a rare insider's look into the practice of law with What Your Lawyer May Not Want You to Know.