lawyers make history

Lawyers Make History: Sir John Gay Alleyne, a barrister, had a hand in developing what became Mount Gay rum distillery. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

Sir John Gay Alleyne: Barrister, Politician & Rum Maker


Lawyers Make History: A courthouse in Concepción de Ataco, El Salvador. Photo credit: Lori Tripoli.

Courthouses Around the World: Concepción de Ataco, El Salvador

Standing outside the gates to the small courthouse in Concepción de Ataco, El Salvador, one cannot help but think about the role of courts and how architecture and design reinforce that role, or not. Should…


Lawyers Make History: The Antigua courthouse in St. John's is now a museum. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

An Antigua Courthouse Turned Museum in St. John’s

“Everything in the island speaks of evanescence and the lapse of time,” Patrick Leigh Fermor wrote of Antigua in his 1950 book, The Traveller’s Tree, and the 1750s Antigua courthouse in St. John’s is no…


Where the Light Falls, by siblings Allison Pataki and Owen Pataki, carries lessons on due process that are pertinent today. #LawyersMakeHistory

Where the Light Falls: Pataki Siblings’ Historical Novel on the French Revolution

Readers drawn to Allison Pataki and Owen Pataki’s novel about the French revolution, Where the Light Falls (Dial Press 2017), might pick up a copy while being wholly unaware that one of its main characters…


If 2017 taught us anything, it was that we need to be ready for an emergency of any sort: natural disaster, terrorist attack, whatnot. But are our courts prepared as well? U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. addresses the emergency preparedness of the federal court system. #LawyersMakeHistory

Emergency Preparedness for Courts, Too


Lawyers Make History: A rendering of the new courthouse for the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. Image courtesy of Marianas Management Corporation. #LawyersMakeHistory http://lawyersmakehistory.com

New U.S. District Courthouse for the Northern Mariana Islands

Federal Courthouse Will Feature Enhanced Security and Energy-Saving Elements The U.S. General Services Administration announced that a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on a new 35,696 square-foot U.S. courthouse in Saipan, an island…


The American Bar Association’s Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity has announced that Phyllis Randolph Frye, a City of Houston Municipal Courts associate judge who reportedly is the first openly transgender judge to be appointed in Texas, is one of the recipients of the 2017 Stonewall Awards.

American Bar Association Honors Transgender Judge

Appreciating Phyllis Randolph Frye The American Bar Association’s Commission on Sexual  Orientation and Gender Identity has announced that Phyllis Randolph Frye, a City of Houston Municipal Courts associate judge who reportedly is the first openly…


A one-room, freestanding law office from the late 1700s, now at Old Sturbridge Village, Mass. Photo credit: L. Tripoli

Work in a One-Room Law Office


Geraldine Ferraro made history in 1984, when she became the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

Geraldine Ferraro Makes History

On July 19, 1984, the Democratic National Convention officially nominated Geraldine Ferraro, a first-generation Italian-American lawyer  and Congressional Representative from Queens, for vice president of the United States. A 1960 graduate of Fordham Law School…


Who is the most remembered lawyer buried in the graveyard at Trinity Church in New York City? Photo credit: Lori Tripoli

That Big Man in Hamilton’s Graveyard Isn’t Hamilton

Who Was the Bewigged, Berobed John Watts? Visit New York City’s Trinity Church graveyard looking for famous lawyers of eras past, and you will likely first see a greening statue of an authoritative figure looming…