Note: this article was originally published in the Criminal Law Journal, a publication of the California Lawyers Association Criminal Law Section
The popular image of Abraham Lincoln is that of the determined leader during the Civil War. Before being elected president, however, Abraham Lincoln was a successful lawyer in Springfield, Illinois. This article describes Lincoln’s law practice.
Legal Training
There were no formal law schools during the time that Lincoln trained to become a lawyer. Instead, he “read” the law—literally reading, and studying several basic texts. The primary text at the time was Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. While most aspiring lawyers “read” the law under the tutelage of a licensed attorney, Lincoln studied on his own. He took an oath, before the Illinois Supreme Court, to support the constitution as an “attorney and counselor at law” in 1837.
Nature of Legal Practice
Abe practiced law with a partner. His partners were John T. Stuart, Stephen T. Logan, and William Herndon. His office was always located in Springfield. Lincoln and his partners handled over 5,000 cases. Many cases were handled as Lincoln travelled on the 8th Judicial Circuit of Illinois, also known as the “mud circuit” for the poor quality of the roads.
Lincoln was not a specialist. He handled a variety of civil matters, and represented railroads. This income allowed him to take on other, less lucrative matters, including many criminal cases. Lincoln’s fees typically ranged from $5 to $20. Lincoln was known for his ability to simplify the issues in a case and his skill at persuading juries.
Legal Ethics
In Lincoln’s time, there was no formal code of ethics for attorneys to follow. Nonetheless, Lincoln recognized the inherent value in the ethical practice of law. Historians have located Lincoln’s notes made in preparation for a lecture on the law. His simple guide for how attorneys should conduct themselves is still relevant today. Here are his “Notes for a Law Lecture”:
I am not an accomplished lawyer. I find quite as much material for a lecture in those points wherein I have failed, as in those wherein I have been moderately successful. The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day. Never let your correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece of business you have in hand, before stopping, do all the labor pertaining to it which can then be done. When you bring a common-law suit, if you have the facts for doing so, write the declaration at once. If a law point be involved, examine the books, and note the authority you rely on upon the declaration itself, where you are sure to find it when wanted. The same of defenses and pleas. In business not likely to be litigated,—ordinary collection cases, foreclosures, partitions, and the like,—make all examinations of titles, and note them, and even draft orders and decrees in advance. This course has a triple advantage; it avoids omissions and neglect, saves your labor when once done, performs the labor out of court when you have leisure, rather than in court when you have not. Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech. And yet there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers than relying too much on speech-making. If any one, upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance.
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession which should drive such men out of it.
The matter of fees is important, far beyond the mere question of bread and butter involved. Properly attended to, fuller justice is done to both lawyer and client. An exorbitant fee should never be claimed. As a general rule never take your whole fee in advance, nor any more than a small retainer. When fully paid beforehand, you are more than a common mortal if you can feel the same interest in the case, as if something was still in prospect for you, as well as for your client. And when you lack interest in the case the job will very likely lack skill and diligence in the performance. Settle the amount of fee and take a note in advance. Then you will feel that you are working for something, and you are sure to do your work faithfully and well. Never sell a fee note—at least not before the consideration service is performed. It leads to negligence and dishonesty—negligence by losing interest in the case, and dishonesty in refusing to refund when you have allowed the consideration to fail.
There is a vague popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. I say vague, because when we consider to what extent confidence and honors are reposed in and conferred upon lawyers by the people, it appears improbable that their impression of dishonesty is very distinct and vivid. Yet the impression is common, almost universal. Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief—resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.
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Conclusion
Lincoln loved the practice of law. When he left for the White House in 1861 he pointed to the “Lincoln & Herndon” shingle and told his partner to “let it hang there undisturbed.” He promised to resume his practice should he return, “as if nothing had ever happened.” While in the White House, his son announced his intention to enter Harvard Law School. Lincoln told his son, “If you do, you should learn more than I ever did, but you will never have so good a time.”
Bibliography
Abraham Lincoln Research Site. (2018). A Very Brief Summary of the Legal Career of Abraham Lincoln. Retrieved from https://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln91.html
Abrams, D. & Fisher, D. (2018). Lincoln’s Last Trial. Ontario, Canada: Hanover Square Press.
Dirck, B. (2007). Lincoln the Lawyer. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
LIFE Books. (2014). Lincoln: An Intimate Portrait. New York: LIFE Books.
Robbins, S. (1990). Law: A Treasury of Art and Literature. New York: Harkavy Publishing.