Overview

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the United States was reeling from the effects of rapid urbanization and industrialization. Time-honored verities proved obsolete, and intellectuals in all fields sought ways to make sense of an increasingly unfamiliar reality. The legal system began to buckle under the weight of its anachronism. In the midst of this crisis, John Henry Wigmore, dean of the Northwestern University School of Law, single-handedly modernized the jury trial with his 1904–5 Treatise on the Anglo-American System of Evidence in Trials at Common Law. He inspired generations of progressive jurists—among them Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Benjamin Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter—to reshape American law to meet the demands of a new era. Yet Wigmore’s role as a prophet of modernity has slipped into obscurity. This book provides a radical reappraisal of his place in the birth of modern legal thought.

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9780826220868

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-It evidences a close reading of Wigmore's work and extensive work in the archives at Harvard and Northwestern, bringing to light a good deal of new material on the connections among important figures in 'legal modernism.'---Robert P. Burns, Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, author of A Theory of the Trial

[The book] will become the standard work on the subject, and more than that, will contribute to emerging clarity in the field of early twentieth-century legal ideas more broadly. Noah Feldman, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, author of <i>Cool War: The Future of Global Competition</i></p> It evidences a close reading of Wigmore s work and extensive work in the archives at Harvard and Northwestern, bringing to light a good deal of new material on the connections among important figures in legal modernism. Robert P. Burns, Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, author of <i>A Theory of the Trial</i></p>

[The book] will become the standard work on the subject, and more than that, will contribute to emerging clarity in the field of early twentieth-century legal ideas more broadly. Noah Feldman, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, author of Cool War: The Future of Global Competition It evidences a close reading of Wigmore s work and extensive work in the archives at Harvard and Northwestern, bringing to light a good deal of new material on the connections among important figures in legal modernism. Robert P. Burns, Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, author of A Theory of the Trial

Author Information

Andrew Porwancher is assistant profes- sor of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma and lives in Norman, OK USA.

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