The Common Law - Softcover

Holmes, Oliver Wendell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1619492849 ISBN 13: 9781619492844

Publisher: Empire Books, 2012

Synopsis

As a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Holmes’ authoritative take on American common law is an informative read for lawyers and law students alike. Covering a variety of topics ranging from torts to criminal proceedings, Holmes offers a valuable perspective on the scope and administration of common law in the nineteenth century.

About this title

About the Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932, and as Acting Chief Justice of the United States January–February 1930. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history, particularly for his "clear and present danger" opinion for a unanimous Court in the 1919 case of Schenck v. United States, and is one of the most influential American common law judges, honored during his lifetime in Great Britain as well as the United States. Holmes retired from the Court at the age of 90 years, making him the oldest Justice in the Supreme Court's history. He also served as an Associate Justice and as Chief Justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and was Weld Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School, of which he was an alumnus. Profoundly influenced by his experience fighting in the American Civil War, Holmes helped move American legal thinking towards legal realism, as summed up in his maxim: "The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience." During his tenure on the Supreme Court, to which he was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, he supported efforts for economic regulation and advocated broad freedom of speech under the First Amendment. These positions as well as his distinctive personality and writing style made him a popular figure, especially with American progressives.[4] His jurisprudence influenced much subsequent American legal thinking, including judicial consensus supporting New Deal regulatory law, and influential schools of pragmatism, critical legal studies, and law and economics. He was one of only a handful of justices to be known as a scholar; The Journal of Legal Studies has identified Holmes as the third most cited American legal scholar of the 20th century.

Edition details

• Publisher: Empire Books
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1619492849
• ISBN 13: 9781619492844
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 268