Kent, James (redirected from James Kent)

Kent, James, 1763–1847, American jurist, b. near Brewster, N.Y. He was admitted to the bar in 1785 and began practice in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Active in the Federalist party, he served several terms in the New York legislature. In 1793, Kent moved to New York City, where his reputation for learning established him as first professor of law at Columbia College. His lectures (1794–98) were not especially well received, and he welcomed the appointment in 1798 as a judge of the state supreme court. He was made chief judge in 1804, and from 1814 until his statutory retirement in 1823 he presided over the state court of chancery. Kent's written opinions as chancellor were instrumental in reviving equity, which had largely lapsed in the United States after the American Revolution. He refashioned many of the doctrines in that area by combining concepts from English chancery jurisprudence with the principles of Roman law. After his retirement he again (1824–26) was professor of law at Columbia, but found the delivery of lectures tedious and soon resigned. He vastly expanded the material of his courses to prepare his Commentaries on American Law (4 vol., 1826–30), a systematic treatment of international law, American constitutional law, the sources of state law, and the law of personal rights and of property. It was enthusiastically received by the legal profession and in Kent's lifetime went through six editions.

Bibliography

See Memoirs and Letters of James Kent by his great-grandson, William Kent (1898, repr. 1970); study by J. T. Horton (1939, repr. 1969).

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Kent, James

(born July 31, 1763, Fredericksburgh, Putnam county, N.Y.—died Dec. 12, 1847, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. jurist who helped shape common law in the U.S. A lawyer at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., from 1785 and a New York state legislator from 1790, he taught law at Columbia University (1793–98, 1823–26) and later served as chief justice of the New York Supreme Court (1804–14) and chancellor of the Court of Chancery (1814–23), then the state's highest judicial office. As chancellor, he is said to have made U.S. equity jurisprudence effective for the first time. His Commentaries on American Law (1826–30) proved influential both in the U.S. and in England.

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Kent, James (1763–1847) legal scholar; born in Southeast, N.Y. A staunch Federalist, he was chosen by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton to be Columbia College's first professor of law (1793–98). In 1798 he was appointed to the New York State Supreme Court and rose to become its chief justice (1804–14). He became chancellor of the New York State court of chancery (1814–23) where his decisions and written opinions often implemented equity jurisdiction, dubbing him "the American Blackstone." His compulsory retirement from the bench at age 60 led to his return to Columbia. There he wrote America's first legal classic, Commentaries on American Law (four vols. 1826–30), which provided the first systematic, clear approach to Anglo-American law.