Pierson v. Post, The Hunt for the Fox
Law and Professionalization in American Legal Culture

Offers new understandings of the famous foxhunting case, Pierson v. Post, and its role in legal education and legal professionalization.

Angela Fernandez (Author)

9781108790703, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 14 November 2019

393 pages
23 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.45 kg

'In this splendid work of legal archaeology, Fernandez painstakingly reconstructs the strange career of Pierson v. Post, shining considerable light on the professional culture within which it has attained the status of a leading case. Deeply researched and beautifully crafted, this book is a major contribution to the field of legal history, prompting critical reflection on the ways and means by which conventional wisdom is constructed and reconstructed over time.' Susanna Blumenthal, University of Minnesota

The 1805 New York foxhunting case Pierson v. Post has long been used in American property law classrooms to introduce law students to the concept of first possession by asking how one establishes possession of a wild animal. In this book, Angela Fernandez retells the history of the famous fox case, from its origins as a squabble between two wealthy young men on the South Fork of Long Island through its appeal to the New York Supreme Court and entry into legal treatises, law school casebooks, and law journal articles, where it still occupies a central place. Fernandez argues that the dissent is best understood as an example of legal solemn foolery. Yet it has been treated by legal professionals, the lawyers of its day, and subsequent legal academics in such a serious way, demonstrating how the solemn and the silly can occupy two sides of the same coin in American legal history.

Introduction
Part I. The Literary History of Pierson: 1. Solemn foolery
2. Rabelaisian play
Part II. The Social History of Pierson: 3. Local justice
4. Lawyerization
5. The legal fictions needed for a state of nature debate
Part III. The Intellectual History of Pierson: 6. The reporter
7. Mandarization
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Property law [LNS], Legal history [LAZ], Law [L]