Abraham Lincoln was a self-taught attorney and was well-respected by his peers. He learned the law from books borrowed from an attorney in... See full answer below.
Lincoln's law practices handled more than 5,000 cases, both criminal and civil. He took on a wide range of cases, including property disputes, assault, and murder, and he frequently served as a railroad attorney .
Apr 10, 2009 · While Lincoln is sometimes thought of as a “railroad lawyer,” that work actually was a small part of his docket, and primarily during the 1850s as railroads began to spread across the United States. (As president, he signed the law that made construction of the first trans continental railroad possible.)
Feb 13, 2009 · “While Lincoln is sometimes thought of as a “railroad lawyer,” that work actually was a small part of his docket, and primarily during the 1850s as railroads began to spread across the United States. (As president, he signed the law that made construction of the first transcontinental railroad possible.)
He decided to attempt a career as a lawyer, but rather than going to law school, Lincoln was self-taught. He rigorously studied by reading a large selection of previous legal cases and law books, and in 1836, at the young age of 25, he obtained his law license.
Lincoln's advocacy was more than just style. He had a substantive approach to examining witnesses. To the greatest extent possible, he attempted to pose questions that had no fat on the bones. His specific and lucid questions were bullets that shot to the heart of the case.
He has sharp words for the dishonest and unscrupulous members of the bar, calling them "fiends" and "knaves." He warns prospective lawyers, "if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer."
Lincoln made many appearances as a lawyer in front of the Illinois Supreme Court but only one before the United States Supreme Court. In 1849 Lincoln represented Thomas Lewis before the Supreme Court in the case Lewis v Lewis.Jul 31, 2018
One of Lincoln's greatest strengths as a lawyer was to take complex cases, parse out the key points, and simplify it in court. This and his talent for offering persuasive arguments while reading the mood of the jury was of great benefit to him during his law career.
By the spring of 1837, Lincoln had moved to Springfield, Illinois, and accepted John Todd Stuart's offer to become his junior law partner. Stuart was mainly interested in politics and gave Lincoln little legal instruction. Consequently, Lincoln had to learn the practice of law by trying cases in court.Dec 2, 2016
People with an interest in government tend to gravitate toward law, since most government posts involve law in one capacity or another, whether it be making it, interpreting it, or enforcing it. As a result, the pool of credible presidential candidates is more lawyer-heavy than the public at large.Sep 22, 2016
In 1865, Lincoln was instrumental in the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which made slavery unconstitutional. Lincoln also presided over the passage of important domestic legislation, including the first of the Homestead Acts, the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862, and the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America, who successfully oversaw the Civil War to preserve the nation. He played in key role in passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which officially ended slavery in America.
No, President George Washington was not a lawyer. George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War...
To honor both Lincoln’s noble profession — July was lawyer month at the Cottage — and our 10-year anniversary, we created a list of Ten Things You Might Not Have Known about Lincoln the Lawyer.
Lincoln’s career in law began as a hobby of visiting courthouses to hear examples of great oratory discourse. Before long he began reading law books and in 1836 he passed an oral exam conducted by a panel of lawyers and received his law license. Although he was often criticized for a lack of technical knowledge, Lincoln pursued his cases with diligence, for which he was often rewarded. Read more about Lincoln’s training as a lawyer.
In 1858, Lincoln successfully defended his client who had been accused of murder in one of his most famous trials, dubbed the Almanac Trial. The key witness’s testimony relied on his explanation that he had seen the murder because of the light from the full moon. Lincoln was able to refute the claim through reference to a farmers almanac that showed there was a new moon the night of the murder, and thus insufficient light by which the witness could have seen the alleged murderer.
Lincoln worked his most profitable case while representing Illinois Central Railroad i n 1856 who paid him $5,000. McLean County had seized railroad land to sell after refusing to recognize the state’s authority to exempt the company from county taxes.
1) Lincoln represented a slave owner. In October 1847 Robert Matson brought several enslaved people from Kentucky to work on his farm in Illinois, including Jane Bryant and her four children. Also working at the farm was freedman Anthony Bryant, Jane’s husband. When threatened with the children being sold, the Bryants fled Matson’s farm ...
Blake Harris is a Museum Program Associate at President Lincoln’s Cottage. Categories: Archive, Newsletter.
Other than part-time service in the Illinois legislature and the United States Congress, law was his full-time occupation. Lincoln handled cases in almost all court levels: justice of the peace, county, circuit, appellate, and federal.
After the state legislature voted to move the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield in February 1837 , the city donated the public square for the new statehouse. As part of their office work, Stuart and Lincoln kept an office fee book as a record of their legal fees from handling cases and nonlitigation activities.