A. Lincoln, Esquire: A Shrewd, Sophisticated Lawyer in His Time"Abraham Lincoln has long been considered the greatest president by scholars of American history. According to legal scholars, he could just as easily have been one of the foremost lawyers in the nation had he not become president." "Lincoln practiced law for about twenty-five years, mainly in the circuit courts of Illinois. However, he was hardly a hick country lawyer. In contrast, Lincoln was an incisive, determined, and assertive litigator with an overwhelming caseload. He sought out new business for his law firm and cared about earning a comfortable living." "A ten-year research project, the Lincoln Legal Papers, discovered thousands of yellowed legal documents in musty and dusty courtroom basements. Those handwritten legal papers related to more than 5,000 cases that Lincoln handled, more than 400 before the supreme court of Illinois. In addition, Lincoln appeared before justices of the peace, circuit court judges, and even the Supreme Court of the United States." "For the first time, this book uses the newly discovered legal documents to tell the story of more than sixty of Lincoln's cases. Many of these cases have never been written about previously. Allen D. Spiegel describes how Lincoln the lawyer handled a staggering variety of cases involving arbitration, assault and battery, bad debt, bankruptcy, bastardy, bestiality, breach of marriage, divorce, impeachment of an Illinois justice, insanity, land titles, libel, medical malpractice, murder, partnership dissolution, patent infringement, personal injuries, property damages, rape, railroad bonds, sexual slander, slave ownership, and wrongful dismissal."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Contents
| 1 | |
A Lincoln Esquire The Evolution of a Lawyer | 18 |
Lincolns Client Assaulted He Questioned His Physicians Medical School Graduation | 51 |
Fired for Incompetency Asylums Medical Superintendent Sues | 63 |
Lincoln Secures a Charter for a Homeopathic Medical College and Represents Railroads | 84 |
Victorian Lawyers Improperly Healed Fractures and Americas First Medical Malpractice Crisis 18351865 | 105 |
Defense Lawyer A Lincoln Uses Chicken Bones in a Malpractice Case | 116 |
Broken Wrist without Due Care Lincoln Defends the Physician | 141 |
Abraham and Mary Lincoln and Insanity in the Courtroom | 193 |
Chloroform Induced Insanity Defense Confounds Lawyer Lincoln | 206 |
Lincolns Client Refuses to Pay the Doctors Bill for Services | 222 |
Lincoln Politically Selects the Medical Expert on Insanity | 244 |
Epilogue | 274 |
| 279 | |
Bibliography | 317 |
Index | 355 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham American appeared appointed asked attended attorney August Basler became believe bill Bissell called cause charged Chicago chloroform College continued County Circuit Court court of Illinois damages Davis decision defendant doctors election evidence examination expert February filed five Fleming four fractures Freese governor Gray Hall Herndon Higgins House included insanity institution James January John Journal Judge July June jurors jury justice later lawyer letter Lincoln Lincoln & Herndon Logan malpractice March McLean County meeting murder never November October opinion ordered parties partnership physicians plaintiff plea political practice present president professional questions railroad reason received removal represented request ruled Sangamon Senate September slander Society Springfield sued suit superintendent supreme court Swett term testified testimony took trial trustees Union United verdict Washington witnesses Wright wrote Wyant York
Popular passages
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Bibliographic information
| Title | A. Lincoln, Esquire: A Shrewd, Sophisticated Lawyer in His Time |
| Author | Allen D. Spiegel |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Mercer University Press, 2002 |
| ISBN | 0865547394, 9780865547391 |
| Length | 372 pages |
| Subjects | › Biography & Autobiography / Lawyers & Judges Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State Law / Legal History |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |