"The Highest Legal Ability in the Nation": Langdell on Wall Street, 1855-1870
Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906), arguably the most influential reformer in the history of legal education in the United States, worked as a lawyer in New York City from 1855 until 1870, when he joined the faculty at Harvard Law School. Yet, his legal practice has been disparaged for the past cen...
Gespeichert in:
| Veröffentlicht in: | Law & social inquiry 2004-01, Vol.29 (1), p.39-104 |
|---|---|
| Hauptverfasser: | , |
| Format: | Artikel |
| Sprache: | eng |
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| container_end_page | 104 |
|---|---|
| container_issue | 1 |
| container_start_page | 39 |
| container_title | Law & social inquiry |
| container_volume | 29 |
| creator | Kimball, Bruce A. Brown, R. Blake |
| description | Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906), arguably the most influential reformer in the history of legal education in the United States, worked as a lawyer in New York City from 1855 until 1870, when he joined the faculty at Harvard Law School. Yet, his legal practice has been disparaged for the past century as insubstantial and unsuccessful and as causing his disaffection from the bench and bar. Drawing on new archival evidence, this essay reveals that Langdell was a prominent, successful, and busy litigator. The new evidence also discloses that Langdell's disaffection from the Wall Street bench and bar arose in response to the corruption of the judiciary and the complicity of even eminent lawyers in Boss Tweed's New York. Consequently, Langdell left Wall Street for Harvard Law School in 1870 not as a failure but as a determined reformer, committed to two related principles that had been forged during his youth and that characterised his reforms in legal education: democratic advancement by merit and apolitical character of law. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1086/423686 |
| format | Article |
| fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>jstor_proqu</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_60294964</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><jstor_id>4092697</jstor_id><sourcerecordid>4092697</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c178t-1b31c08299090fc64a476bd9e46343b3dc4615261817f02148e887091ab243cb3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNpdkD1PwzAURS0EEqXAL2CwOjAR8LOdZ5utqviSAgwUMUZO6rap0qTY7tB_j1ERSEx3uEdHV5eQc2DXwDTeSC5Q4wEZgJIqkxLNIRkwbVSGucRjchLCijHGOeYD8jyaLh19bBZLFyIt3MK2dFw1bRN3tOloTOWLjU3fjW5pYbvFzLUt7Tv6YVO-Re9cvKKg8zwDrdgpOZrbNriznxyS9_u76eQxK14fnibjIqtB6ZhBJaBmmhvDDJvXKK1UWM2MkyikqMSslgg5R9Cg5oyD1E4nuwFbcSnqSgzJ5d678f3nNi0v102o0zTbuX4bSmTcSIMygaN_4Krf-i5tK8HkDDhX4s9W-z4E7-blxjdr63clsPL70nJ_aQIv9uAqxN7_UpIZjkaJLzAoa4w</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>195012273</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>"The Highest Legal Ability in the Nation": Langdell on Wall Street, 1855-1870</title><source>Jstor Complete Legacy</source><source>PAIS Index</source><source>HeinOnline Law Journal Library</source><source>Sociological Abstracts</source><creator>Kimball, Bruce A. ; Brown, R. Blake</creator><creatorcontrib>Kimball, Bruce A. ; Brown, R. Blake</creatorcontrib><description>Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906), arguably the most influential reformer in the history of legal education in the United States, worked as a lawyer in New York City from 1855 until 1870, when he joined the faculty at Harvard Law School. Yet, his legal practice has been disparaged for the past century as insubstantial and unsuccessful and as causing his disaffection from the bench and bar. Drawing on new archival evidence, this essay reveals that Langdell was a prominent, successful, and busy litigator. The new evidence also discloses that Langdell's disaffection from the Wall Street bench and bar arose in response to the corruption of the judiciary and the complicity of even eminent lawyers in Boss Tweed's New York. Consequently, Langdell left Wall Street for Harvard Law School in 1870 not as a failure but as a determined reformer, committed to two related principles that had been forged during his youth and that characterised his reforms in legal education: democratic advancement by merit and apolitical character of law.</description><identifier>ISSN: 0897-6546</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1747-4469</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1545-696X</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1086/423686</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>Cambridge: University of Chicago Press</publisher><subject>Appellate courts ; Attorneys ; Bank loans ; Baptists ; Langdell, Christopher ; Law schools ; Legal arguments ; Legal practice ; Legal professions ; Litigation ; Personal profiles ; Social law ; Supreme Court decisions ; Tweed ; Wall Street</subject><ispartof>Law & social inquiry, 2004-01, Vol.29 (1), p.39-104</ispartof><rights>Copyright 2003 American Bar Foundation</rights><rights>Copyright University of Chicago, acting through its Press Winter 2004</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4092697$$EPDF$$P50$$Gjstor$$H</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/4092697$$EHTML$$P50$$Gjstor$$H</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>314,776,780,799,27323,27845,27903,27904,33753,33754,57995,58228</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Kimball, Bruce A.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Brown, R. Blake</creatorcontrib><title>"The Highest Legal Ability in the Nation": Langdell on Wall Street, 1855-1870</title><title>Law & social inquiry</title><description>Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906), arguably the most influential reformer in the history of legal education in the United States, worked as a lawyer in New York City from 1855 until 1870, when he joined the faculty at Harvard Law School. Yet, his legal practice has been disparaged for the past century as insubstantial and unsuccessful and as causing his disaffection from the bench and bar. Drawing on new archival evidence, this essay reveals that Langdell was a prominent, successful, and busy litigator. The new evidence also discloses that Langdell's disaffection from the Wall Street bench and bar arose in response to the corruption of the judiciary and the complicity of even eminent lawyers in Boss Tweed's New York. Consequently, Langdell left Wall Street for Harvard Law School in 1870 not as a failure but as a determined reformer, committed to two related principles that had been forged during his youth and that characterised his reforms in legal education: democratic advancement by merit and apolitical character of law.</description><subject>Appellate courts</subject><subject>Attorneys</subject><subject>Bank loans</subject><subject>Baptists</subject><subject>Langdell, Christopher</subject><subject>Law schools</subject><subject>Legal arguments</subject><subject>Legal practice</subject><subject>Legal professions</subject><subject>Litigation</subject><subject>Personal profiles</subject><subject>Social law</subject><subject>Supreme Court decisions</subject><subject>Tweed</subject><subject>Wall Street</subject><issn>0897-6546</issn><issn>1747-4469</issn><issn>1545-696X</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2004</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><sourceid>7TQ</sourceid><sourceid>8G5</sourceid><sourceid>BENPR</sourceid><sourceid>BHHNA</sourceid><sourceid>GUQSH</sourceid><sourceid>M2O</sourceid><recordid>eNpdkD1PwzAURS0EEqXAL2CwOjAR8LOdZ5utqviSAgwUMUZO6rap0qTY7tB_j1ERSEx3uEdHV5eQc2DXwDTeSC5Q4wEZgJIqkxLNIRkwbVSGucRjchLCijHGOeYD8jyaLh19bBZLFyIt3MK2dFw1bRN3tOloTOWLjU3fjW5pYbvFzLUt7Tv6YVO-Re9cvKKg8zwDrdgpOZrbNriznxyS9_u76eQxK14fnibjIqtB6ZhBJaBmmhvDDJvXKK1UWM2MkyikqMSslgg5R9Cg5oyD1E4nuwFbcSnqSgzJ5d678f3nNi0v102o0zTbuX4bSmTcSIMygaN_4Krf-i5tK8HkDDhX4s9W-z4E7-blxjdr63clsPL70nJ_aQIv9uAqxN7_UpIZjkaJLzAoa4w</recordid><startdate>20040101</startdate><enddate>20040101</enddate><creator>Kimball, Bruce A.</creator><creator>Brown, R. Blake</creator><general>University of Chicago Press</general><general>Cambridge University Press</general><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>0-V</scope><scope>3V.</scope><scope>7TQ</scope><scope>7U4</scope><scope>7XB</scope><scope>88C</scope><scope>88J</scope><scope>8AM</scope><scope>8AO</scope><scope>8BJ</scope><scope>8FI</scope><scope>8FJ</scope><scope>8FK</scope><scope>8G5</scope><scope>ABUWG</scope><scope>AFKRA</scope><scope>ALSLI</scope><scope>AZQEC</scope><scope>BENPR</scope><scope>BGRYB</scope><scope>BHHNA</scope><scope>CCPQU</scope><scope>DHY</scope><scope>DON</scope><scope>DPSOV</scope><scope>DWI</scope><scope>DWQXO</scope><scope>FQK</scope><scope>FYUFA</scope><scope>GHDGH</scope><scope>GNUQQ</scope><scope>GUQSH</scope><scope>HEHIP</scope><scope>JBE</scope><scope>K7.</scope><scope>KC-</scope><scope>M0O</scope><scope>M0T</scope><scope>M2L</scope><scope>M2O</scope><scope>M2R</scope><scope>M2S</scope><scope>MBDVC</scope><scope>PQEST</scope><scope>PQQKQ</scope><scope>PQUKI</scope><scope>PRINS</scope><scope>Q9U</scope><scope>WZK</scope></search><sort><creationdate>20040101</creationdate><title>"The Highest Legal Ability in the Nation": Langdell on Wall Street, 1855-1870</title><author>Kimball, Bruce A. ; Brown, R. Blake</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c178t-1b31c08299090fc64a476bd9e46343b3dc4615261817f02148e887091ab243cb3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2004</creationdate><topic>Appellate courts</topic><topic>Attorneys</topic><topic>Bank loans</topic><topic>Baptists</topic><topic>Langdell, Christopher</topic><topic>Law schools</topic><topic>Legal arguments</topic><topic>Legal practice</topic><topic>Legal professions</topic><topic>Litigation</topic><topic>Personal profiles</topic><topic>Social law</topic><topic>Supreme Court decisions</topic><topic>Tweed</topic><topic>Wall Street</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Kimball, Bruce A.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Brown, R. Blake</creatorcontrib><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>ProQuest Social Sciences Premium Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Corporate)</collection><collection>PAIS Index</collection><collection>Sociological Abstracts (pre-2017)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Healthcare Administration Database (Alumni)</collection><collection>Social Science Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Criminal Justice Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Pharma Collection</collection><collection>International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni) (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Research Library (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central UK/Ireland</collection><collection>Social Science Premium Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Essentials</collection><collection>ProQuest Central</collection><collection>Criminology Collection</collection><collection>Sociological Abstracts</collection><collection>ProQuest One Community College</collection><collection>PAIS International</collection><collection>PAIS International (Ovid)</collection><collection>Politics Collection</collection><collection>Sociological Abstracts</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Korea</collection><collection>International Bibliography of the Social Sciences</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection (Alumni)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Student</collection><collection>Research Library Prep</collection><collection>Sociology Collection</collection><collection>International Bibliography of the Social Sciences</collection><collection>ProQuest Criminal Justice (Alumni)</collection><collection>ProQuest Politics Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Criminal Justice</collection><collection>Healthcare Administration Database</collection><collection>Political Science Database</collection><collection>Research Library</collection><collection>Social Science Database</collection><collection>Sociology Database</collection><collection>Research Library (Corporate)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic Eastern Edition (DO NOT USE)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic UKI Edition</collection><collection>ProQuest Central China</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Basic</collection><collection>Sociological Abstracts (Ovid)</collection><jtitle>Law & social inquiry</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Kimball, Bruce A.</au><au>Brown, R. Blake</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>"The Highest Legal Ability in the Nation": Langdell on Wall Street, 1855-1870</atitle><jtitle>Law & social inquiry</jtitle><date>2004-01-01</date><risdate>2004</risdate><volume>29</volume><issue>1</issue><spage>39</spage><epage>104</epage><pages>39-104</pages><issn>0897-6546</issn><eissn>1747-4469</eissn><eissn>1545-696X</eissn><abstract>Christopher C. Langdell (1826-1906), arguably the most influential reformer in the history of legal education in the United States, worked as a lawyer in New York City from 1855 until 1870, when he joined the faculty at Harvard Law School. Yet, his legal practice has been disparaged for the past century as insubstantial and unsuccessful and as causing his disaffection from the bench and bar. Drawing on new archival evidence, this essay reveals that Langdell was a prominent, successful, and busy litigator. The new evidence also discloses that Langdell's disaffection from the Wall Street bench and bar arose in response to the corruption of the judiciary and the complicity of even eminent lawyers in Boss Tweed's New York. Consequently, Langdell left Wall Street for Harvard Law School in 1870 not as a failure but as a determined reformer, committed to two related principles that had been forged during his youth and that characterised his reforms in legal education: democratic advancement by merit and apolitical character of law.</abstract><cop>Cambridge</cop><pub>University of Chicago Press</pub><doi>10.1086/423686</doi><tpages>66</tpages></addata></record> |
| fulltext | fulltext |
| identifier | ISSN: 0897-6546 |
| ispartof | Law & social inquiry, 2004-01, Vol.29 (1), p.39-104 |
| issn | 0897-6546 1747-4469 1545-696X |
| language | eng |
| recordid | cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_60294964 |
| source | Jstor Complete Legacy; PAIS Index; HeinOnline Law Journal Library; Sociological Abstracts |
| subjects | Appellate courts Attorneys Bank loans Baptists Langdell, Christopher Law schools Legal arguments Legal practice Legal professions Litigation Personal profiles Social law Supreme Court decisions Tweed Wall Street |
| title | "The Highest Legal Ability in the Nation": Langdell on Wall Street, 1855-1870 |
| url | https://sfx.bib-bvb.de/sfx_tum?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-01-28T01%3A39%3A28IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-jstor_proqu&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=%22The%20Highest%20Legal%20Ability%20in%20the%20Nation%22:%20Langdell%20on%20Wall%20Street,%201855-1870&rft.jtitle=Law%20&%20social%20inquiry&rft.au=Kimball,%20Bruce%20A.&rft.date=2004-01-01&rft.volume=29&rft.issue=1&rft.spage=39&rft.epage=104&rft.pages=39-104&rft.issn=0897-6546&rft.eissn=1747-4469&rft_id=info:doi/10.1086/423686&rft_dat=%3Cjstor_proqu%3E4092697%3C/jstor_proqu%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&disable_directlink=true&sfx.directlink=off&sfx.report_link=0&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=195012273&rft_id=info:pmid/&rft_jstor_id=4092697&rfr_iscdi=true |