Lawyers and Immigrants, 1870-1940: A Cultural History

Anthes tells the story of European immigrants and their relationship to New York's legal profession between Reconstruction and the Great Depression. Using published materials, archival sources, and privately maintained documents, he explores how immigrants – mainly from southern and eastern Europe – passed through Ellis Island, used the law after suffering personal injuries at work and at home, and studied at city law schools. They improvised their own legal descriptions of everyday life by relying on themselves, families, neighbors, and local lawyers. At the same time though, New York's more established lawyers persistently interpreted immigrants' legal strategies as inconsistent with their profession's highest duties, and they promoted many reforms to maintain their control over the practice of law.