Harvard Law School is the oldest and, arguably, the most influential law school in the nation. U.S. presidents, Supreme Court justices, and foreign heads of state, along with senators, congressional representatives, social critics, civil rights activists, university presidents, state and federal judges, military generals, novelists, spies, Olympians, film and TV producers, CEOs, and one First Lady have graduated from the school since its founding in 1817.

During its first century, Harvard Law School pioneered revolutionary educational ideas, including professional legal education within a university, Socratic questioning and case analysis, and the admission and training of students based on academic merit. But the school struggled to navigate its way through the many political, social, economic, and legal crises of the century, and it earned both scars and plaudits as a result. On the Battlefield of Merit offers a candid, critical, definitive account of a unique legal institution during its first century of influence.

Daniel R. Coquillette and Bruce A. Kimball examine the school's ties with institutional slavery, its buffeting between Federalists and Republicans, its deep involvement in the Civil War, its reluctance to admit minorities and women, its anti-Catholicism, and its financial missteps at the turn of the twentieth century. On the Battlefield of Merit brings the story of Harvard Law School up to 1909-a time when hard-earned accomplishment led to self-satisfaction and vulnerabilities that would ultimately challenge its position as the leading law school in the nation. A second volume will continue this history through the twentieth century.

About the Author
Daniel R. Coquillette is J. Donald Monan, S.J., University Professor at Boston College and Charles Warren Visiting Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School. He is coauthor, with Bruce A. Kimball, of the prizewinning On the Battlefield of Merit: Harvard Law School, the First Century. Bruce A. Kimball is Professor in Philosophy and History of Education at Ohio State University and a former Guggenheim Fellow. He is coauthor, with Daniel R. Coquillete, of the prizewinning On the Battlefield of Merit: Harvard Law School, the First Century.

Reviews
On the Battlefield of Merit surpasses all previous histories of Harvard Law School in the breadth and depth of its research base, giving one confidence in the authenticity of many of its findings. -- G. Edward White * Weekly Standard *
On the Battlefield of Merit: Harvard Law School, The First Century succeeds in crafting a history of the school that is meticulous in its research, lucid in its prose, and, above all, nuanced in its findings...If the authors' forthcoming work on the second century of Harvard Law is as sweeping as On the Battlefield of Merit, together these volumes will stand as the definitive history of the institution for some time to come. -- Andrew Porwancher * Law and History Review *
A deep, detailed, compellingly written, unstintingly transparent view of the school as it was from the fall of 1817 (six students) to the spring of 1910 (765 students). -- Corydon Ireland * Harvard Law Bulletin *
Given the track record of Coquillette and Kimball, it is no surprise that this book, in its depth of research, breadth of coverage, and unbiased analysis, supersedes the standard histories of Harvard Law School. -- R. Kent Newmyer, author of Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story


Awards
Nominated for James Willard Hurst Prize 2016 and Littleton-Griswold Prize 2016.



Book Information
ISBN 9780674967663
Author Daniel R. Coquillette
Format Hardback
Page Count 688
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press