For Immediate Release
August 18, 2004

Contact:
Greg Langlois, (202) 662-9500

Photo by Rhoda Baer

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Georgetown University Law Center's James Oldham, St. Thomas More Professor of Law and Legal History, has published a new book on an old friend – 18th century judicial giant Lord Mansfield – giving us a better understanding of how the common law courts of Mansfield and others from his time have laid the foundations of the law we live under today.

  In “English Common Law in the Age of Mansfield” (University of North Carolina Press), Oldham presents the fundamentals of the English common law (judge-made law from court decisions) that underpins present-day English and American law. Lord Mansfield, chief justice of the Court of King's Bench from 1756 to 1788, was the foremost judicial voice shaping English common law during that era.

   Oldham's book, at 448 pages, is an update of his highly regarded two-volume work, “The Mansfield Manuscripts and the Growth of English Law in the Eighteenth Century.” Oldham, who teaches an English legal history seminar and seminar on Anglo-American jury tradition, continues to spend considerable time in London doing manuscript research on English legal history.

Knowing the foundations of English common law during Lord Mansfield's time provides insight into understanding American law today and its continued evolution, Oldham said.

  “What is surprising about the English common law of the second half of the 18th century is how much is familiar to us today,” he said. “Many of the basic ideas and principles of current American law were forged in this earlier time. And in light of the increased attention in constitutional interpretation to ‘original intent,' it is useful to have an understanding of the principal body of substantive law with which America 's founding fathers would have been familiar.”

  With chapters covering a range of legal topics, including contracts, torts, property, labor and employment, and marriage, Oldham's book helps shed light on the civil side of English case law, which has not received as much scholarly attention as has the criminal side.

  In reviewing the book, Washington University in St. Louis law and history professor David Konig said "English Common Law in the Age of Mansfield" provides an important recognition of Lord Mansfield's contribution to our legal tradition.

  “A proper understanding and appreciation of the role of this immensely important chief justice are essential for any scholar of English and American legal history,” Konig said. “James Oldham has provided both, with erudition and skill.”

About Georgetown University Law Center

   Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means; justice is the end. With this principle in mind, the Law Center has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.

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