TY - JOUR
AU - Nortrup, Jack
AB - The Education of a W estem Lawyer by JACK NORTHUP• EGAL FOLKLORE ABOUT THE "WEST" fixes the training and educa­ tion of the pre-Civil War Western lawyer at a low tide. Tradi­ tionally the Western lawyer simply glossed over tattered copies of a few ancient law books, purchased a license, painted a shingle and (literally) practiced law. The career of the most famous of this species, Abraham Lincoln, is often cited as an example and Lincoln, himself, added to the impression. Two years prior to becoming President, Lincoln wrote some solicited advice on legal training: "Let Mr. Widner," he wrote "read Blackstone's Commentaries, Chitty's Pleadings, Greenleaf's Evidence, Story's Equity and Story's Equity Pleading, get a license, and go to the practice and still keep reading. That is my judgment of the cheapest, quickest and best way .... " 1 Lincoln's letter describes the "curriculum" of most Western lawyers, but there were other means of obtaining a legal education even on the frontier. One of Mr. Lincoln's friends and contempo­ raries, Richard Yates (who rose to be Illinois' Civil War Governor) illustrates an alternate route. Yates.' career coupled a formal educa­ tion at Yale-sponsored IHinois College with formal legal training 
TI - The Education of a Western Lawyer
JO - American Journal of Legal History
DO - 10.2307/843988
DA - 1968-10-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/the-education-of-a-western-lawyer-laevRiNwTY
SP - 294
EP - 305
VL - 12
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -