The Role of Circuit Courts in the Formation of United States Law in the Early Republic

While scholars have rightly focused on the importance of the landmark opinions of the United States Supreme Court and its Chief Justice, John Marshall, in the rise in influence of the Court in the Early Republic, the crucial role of the circuit courts in the development of a uniform system of federal law across the nation has largely been ignored. This book highlights the contribution of four Associate Justices (Washington, Livingston, Story and Thompson) as presiding judges of their respective circuit courts during the Marshall era, in order to establish that in those early years federal law grew from the 'inferior courts' upwards rather than down from the Supreme Court. It does so after a reading of over 1800 mainly circuit opinions and over 2000 original letters, which reveal the sources of law upon which the justices drew and their efforts through correspondence to achieve consistency across the circuits. The documents examined present insights into momentous social, political and economic issues facing the Union and demonstrate how these justices dealt with them on circuit. Particular attention is paid to the different ways in which each justice contributed to the shaping of United States law on circuit and on the Court and in the case of Justices Livingston and Thompson also during their time on the New York State Supreme Court.
David Lynch is a retired English Circuit Judge, an Honorary Fellow and Visiting Research Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University, and a Master of the Bench of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.

"This fascinating and erudite book ... provides a classic illustration of the, generally sound, principle that travel broadens the mind. I warmly recommend it." --The Middle Templar Magazine

"[This] work deals with a vitally important period of US legal history and the crucial role of the circuit courts in the development of a uniform system of federal law across the nation ... the author demonstrates how federal law developed from the lower courts upwards rather than from the Supreme Court downwards ... I commend this book as compulsory reading." --Counsel Magazine

"... as a guide to a critical period of US history, legal as well as economic and political, and to help in understanding how the fledgling state across the Atlantic has evolved, it is compulsory reading." --Law Society Gazette (Ireland)

"It is a road trodden by few American scholars and is thus genuinely new work." --Graya

"The Role of Circuit Courts in the Formation of United States Law in the Early Republic merits a place in the library of every student and scholar of American legal history. Each chapter offers a concise overview of the Justice's significant circuit court decisions, providing a thoroughly readable, engaging judicial biography of its subject." --Comparative Legal History

"Lynch ... provides one more illustration that interest by English scholars in American constitutional government has persisted long after Maine... Lynch's research adds considerably to what is known about both cases decided by the the early federal judiciary and those Justices who served." --Journal of Supreme Court History

"The subjects of this excellent book are four early American judges... the book's distinctive contribution is to assess the work of the federal circuit courts to which they were allocated, sharing their time between those courts and their sittings in Washington. This a book about remarkable judges based on a doctoral thesis by a remarkable judge." --Inner Temple Yearbook

"This is a splendid work of historical and legal scholarship authored by a British judge... It admirably fills a gap in our literature on the early federal courts. This is a book that demands attention, due to the author's thoroughness and writing style. It just overflows with important information. Fortunately the footnotes are where they belong; at the foot of each page. The book includes three important appendices and an extensive bibliography...I am very glad I tackled this book, and students of judicial history and legal development, I venture to say, will be pleased as well should they read it." --Amazon.com