UA Law School Publishes Fourth Academic Volume

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama School of Law has published Gilded Age Legal Ethics: Essays on Thomas Goode Jones’ 1887 Code. It is the fourth volume of the Occasional Publications of the Bounds Law Library.

Thomas Goode Jones, governor of Alabama from 1890-94, wrote the 1887 Code of Legal Ethics because he felt there was a strong need for a guide to establish a standard of honor and integrity for the Alabama Bar. The Alabama Code was adopted by the state bar and used as the model for the American Bar Association’s 1908 Canons of Legal Ethics. The code became the standard for state ethics codes. Although the ABA supplemented and reformulated its Canons into what is now the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, the Alabama Code has remained at its core. The book features a side-by-side comparison of the 1887 Alabama Code and the 1908 ABA Canons, illustrating the strong similarity between the two.

Law School Archivist David Durham and Special Collections Librarian Paul M. Pruitt Jr. provided the background material and edited the Code, while Professor Carol Andrews contributed a legal analysis and historical perspective. The book reproduces the Alabama Code and features several archival photographs and drawings. On the cover, a photograph of the ornate dome of the Alabama State Capitol with its mural panels wraps from the front to the back cover.

Previous Bounds Law Library publications include A Catalogue and a Guide to the Howell Heflin Collection; Wade Keyes’ Introductory Lecture to the Montgomery Law School: Legal Education in Mid-Nineteenth Century Alabama; and The Private Life of a New South Lawyer: Stephens Croom’s 1875-1876 Journal.