ceived yours of the 16th, with check on Flagg & Savage
for twenty-five dollars. You must think I am a high-priced man. You are too liberal with your money. Fifteen dollars is enough for the job. I send you a receipt
for fifteen dollars, and return to you a ten-dollar bill.”
Lincoln’s letters show that he could precisely explain
the law to a client. For example, an 1858 letter to client
Joseph Means says, “The statements made within are
evidence of fraud on the part of the executor in selling
the land. Fraud by the principles of law invalidates
everything. To get rid of this sale, a bill in chancery is
to be filed, charging the fraud, and then, if the fraud
can be proved, the sale will be set aside. This is all that
can be said. Any lawyer will know how to do it.”
Lincoln was a superb trial lawyer, but he often preferred to settle a case and sometimes saw no alternative. In his letter to co-counsel Hayden Keeling, he
said, “I do not think there is the least use of doing any
more with the lawsuit. I not only do not think you are
sure to gain it, but I do think you are sure to lose it.
Therefore, the sooner it ends the better.”
There were no formal ethics rules in Lincoln’s day,
but even then lawyers were alert to conflicts of interest.
In one letter, Lincoln wrote, “Yours of the 12th in relation to a suit of Bakewell vs. Allin, was received a day or
two ago. I well remember the transaction; but as
Bakewell will need no lawyer but you, and as there is
likely to be some feeling, and
both parties are old friends of
mine, I prefer if I can, to keep
out of the case.”
Even Lincoln’s kindheartedness is reflected in his legal
correspondence. He admits in
an 1852 letter to another lawyer, “At our Court, just past; I
could have got a judgment
against Teirley, if I had
pressed to the utmost; but I
am really sorry for him—poor
and a cripple as he is. He
begged time to try to find evidence to prove that the deceased on his death bed,
ordered the note to be given
up to him or destroyed. I do
not suppose he will get any
such evidence, but I allowed
him till next court to try.”
Politics were always on
Lincoln’s mind. He practiced
law to put bread on the family
table, but also to finance some
time spent canvassing—a
quaint 19th century word for
soliciting votes. In one letter
from 1855, he frankly con-
fessed to neglecting legal work because of politics. He
wrote, “Gentlemen: Yours of the 5th is received; as also
was that of 15th Dec. Last, inclosing bond of Clift to
Pray. When I received the bond, I was dabbling in politics; and, of course, neglecting business. Having since
been beaten out, I have gone to work again.”
The Common Touch at Trial
S
BY JOHN A. LUPTON
MUCH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S LAW PRACTICE UNFOLDED
in the 8th Judicial Circuit in central Illinois.
But he was hardly a provincial lawyer. His practice
took him to the Illinois Supreme Court, the federal
courts in Springfield and Chicago, and even the U.S.
Supreme Court. Practicing in log cabins, simple frame
buildings and the day’s grand “temples of justice,”
Lincoln used facts, humor, fairness and simplicity of
language to argue effectively before judges and juries.
A popular figure in the courts, Lincoln commanded a
high degree of respect among his legal colleagues. That
was partly due to his impressive height, but more because of his knowledge of the law, his honesty and his
jovial spirit. Not to be taken lightly as an opponent,
This Springfield building was the Illinois Capitol from 1839 to 1876 and the setting for Lincoln’s “House
Divided” speech in 1858. More than 75,000 mourners filed past Lincoln’s body here before his burial.
