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David Hoffman: Early America’s Dark Horse Law Professor and the Natural Law | In Custodia Legis
- A 19th-century Baltimore lawyer, David Hoffman, shaped American legal education by linking law to moral and political philosophy.
- His 1817 book A Course of Legal Study advocated reading across disciplines to teach law as a public trust.
- Hoffman argued that natural law underpins positive laws and should guide legal interpreters toward republican ends.
- Hoffman’s pedagogy included a vast reading list and a six-year program, far longer than typical legal training of the era.
- Contemporary luminaries like Joseph Story and James Kent praised Hoffman’s innovative approach.
- Hoffman published a two-volume 1836 edition of his course, including a foundational code of attorney ethics.
- The post situates Hoffman within broader debates about natural law’s rise and decline in American jurisprudence.
- The article connects Hoffman’s ideas to contemporary historiography on legal ethics and education.
- Hoffman’s work showed law as a guardian of republican government and a bridge to liberal arts.
- The Law Library of Congress preserves Hoffman’s 1829 'Legal outlines' with emphasis on natural law and public life.
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