A. Lincoln, Esquire
Subtitle: a shrewd, sophisticated lawyer in his time
By: Allen D. Spiegel.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Macon, Ga
Language: eng
Number of pages: 372
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Career in law.; Lawyers -- Illinois -- Biography.; Practice of law -- Illinois -- History.
Genres: Biography.
Description: "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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [317]-354 and index.
Table of contents: title: Reverence for the laws : a political religion; title: A. Lincoln, Esquire : the evolution of a lawyer. John A. Lupton, the Lincoln legal papers : a documentary history of the law practice of Abraham Lincoln, 1836-1861; title: Lincoln's client assaulted : he questioned his physician's medical school graduation; title: Fired for incompetency : asylum's medical superintendent sues; title: Lincoln secures a charter for a homeopathic medical school; title: Victorian lawyers, improperly healed fractures, and America's first medical malpractice crisis, 1835-1865; title: Defense lawyer, A. Lincoln, uses chicken bones in a malpractice case; title: Broken wrist without due care : Lincoln defends the physician; title: Lincoln's cases of sex, slander and sundry suits; title: Abraham and Mary Lincoln and insanity in the courtroom; title: Chloroform induced insanity defense confounds lawyer Lincoln; title: Lincoln's client refuses to pay the doctor's bill for services; title: Lincoln politically selects the medical expert on insanity.