Let the Record Show: Legal History of Ingham County - Hardcover

Let the Record Show is an insightful, historical examination of the practice of law in Ingham County, Michigan, home of the state's capital in Lansing. It traces the evolution and development of the Ingham County Bar Association (ICBA), beginning with a review of how European law shaped and influenced Michigan's legal system in the nineteenth century. Early chapters introduce some of Ingham County's first settlers -- the Lowes, Tuttles, Montgomerys, Lindermans, Cases, Burchards, Danforths, Kilbournes, and Longyears -- names that would become synonymous with Michigan's legal history and court system. Richard Frazier analyzes the practice of law in Ingham County, highlighting celebrated criminal trials, including the famous nineteenth-century Marble murders; weaves in accounts of the lives of prominent Lansing-area attorneys and judges; and discusses ongoing legal changes that occurred in the twentieth-century, including the reorganization of the ICBA in 1909, the end of a male-dominated court and legal system, the impact of automobiles on legal proceedings, as well as a discussion of the 1995 decision to relocate the Detroit School of Law to Michigan State University. Let the Record Show unravels the complex history of one of Michigan's most important legal communities. Included are histories of Lansing-area legal firms and appendices containing significant original documents and several orations; numerous photographs included in the volume add to its appeal. This timely work fills a gap in our understanding of jurisprudence in Michigan.