David Dudley Field II was an American lawyer and law reformer who lived from 13 February 1805 to 13 April 1894, born in Haddam, Connecticut, a graduate of Williams College who studied law under Harmanus Bleecker in Albany and was admitted to the bar in 1828. He became the foremost American advocate for replacing the old common-law system of pleading with a unified, written code of civil procedure, and his draft became the Field Code, adopted by New York State in 1850 and subsequently taken up, in modified form, by twenty-seven other states, permanently reshaping how litigation is conducted across most of the United States. He briefly represented New York's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives in 1877, and he is remembered as the central figure of a prominent family that also produced his brother Stephen Johnson Field, a justice of the United States Supreme Court, and his brother Cyrus West Field, promoter of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.
Facts
RoleLawyer and law reformer 1 Nationality / Jurisdiction Place of Death Classification
Field of Law Role
Role (category) FAQs
Did New York adopt all of the codes David Dudley Field II drafted?
New York adopted his procedure code in 1850 but repeatedly rejected his wider civil code.
No. New York enacted the Field Code of civil procedure in 1850, but Field's wider civil code was repeatedly rejected by his home state, due in large part to the opposition of James C. Carter. It was later adopted in large part by California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, and by the territory of Guam many years afterward. Idaho enacted the contract sections of the civil code but declined to enact the tort sections.
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1. David Dudley Field II (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIntroduction, gender
His greatest accomplishment was engineering the move away from common law pleading towards code pleading, which culminated in the enactment of the Field Code in 1850 by the state of New York.
Introduction, nationality
David Dudley Field II was an American lawyer and law reformer who lived from 13 February 1805 to 13 April 1894, born in Haddam, Connecticut, a graduate of Williams College who studied law under Harmanus Bleecker in Albany and was admitted to the bar in 1828.
Introduction
David Dudley Field II (February 13, 1805 - April 13, 1894) was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major contributions to the development of American civil procedure.
Introduction, field of law
His greatest accomplishment was engineering the move away from common law pleading towards code pleading, which culminated in the enactment of the Field Code in 1850 by the state of New York.
In Legal System: Law of the United States, Wikipedia lead sentence
was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major
View the Source 2. Wikidata: David Dudley Field II
Wikidata Q352906, P569 date of birth claim (year)
P569 (date of birth): 1805
Wikidata Q352906, P569 date of birth claim (full date)
P569 (date of birth): 1805-02-13
Wikidata Q352906, P570 date of death claim (year)
P570 (date of death): 1894
Wikidata Q352906, P570 date of death claim (full date)
P570 (date of death): 1894-04-13
Wikidata Q352906, P19 place of birth claim
P19 (place of birth): Haddam
Wikidata Q352906, P20 place of death claim
P20 (place of death): New York City
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