TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The second occasional publication produced by the Bounds Law Library at The University of Alabama School of Law will be Wade Keyes’ Introductory Lecture to the Montgomery Law School: Legal Education in Mid-Nineteenth Century Alabama. The publication will be available in late August or early September to law deans, libraries, federal judges, Alabama state judges, and selected public and academic libraries.
Wade Keyes (1821-1879) was a successful lawyer and legal author who founded the Montgomery Law School. It was designated by the legislature in 1860 as the Law Department of The University of Alabama. If the Civil War had not swept Keyes and his students away, he would have been the founding father of legal education in Alabama. As it happened, that honor was reserved for Henderson Somerville, who was hired by the University in 1872 to teach law in Tuscaloosa.
The publication presents an edited text of a talk given by Keyes to his class at the Montgomery Law School in March 1860. Edited by Bounds Law Library archivist David Durham and special collections librarian Paul Pruitt, Keyes’ lecture is an example of the legal thought of his time. He deals with questions of legal ethics, the place of lawyers in society, and the historical and philosophical roots of the legal profession.
The first occasional publication produced by the Bounds Law Library was A Catalogue and a Guide to the Howell Heflin Collection.
Contact
Cheston Turbyfill, UA School of Law, (205) 348-0994
Linda Hill, Office of Media Relations, (205) 348-8325