Thursday, June 09, 2005

The South's earliest law school?

From the soon-to-open Charleston School of Law website: "In February 1826, The Forensic Club offered lectures in the law to begin what essentially was the South's earliest law school."

From the law school of the College of William & Mary: "The Chair of Law at William & Mary, created in 1779 by the Board of Visitors at the urging of Thomas Jefferson, was the first established in the United States. The first occupant of the Chair was George Wythe, in whose offices studied Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, James Monroe and Henry Clay. Wythe, a leader in the struggle for independence, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Federal Constitutional Convention. He became a powerful force in the development of American legal education. During the decade of his professorship, he developed a comprehensive course of law study which emphasized the acquisition of practical skills in such areas as legislative drafting and oral advocacy. "

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