Kentucky Lawyer

~~FLAT SIGNED BY AUTHOR ON FFEP~~ Cincinnati: The W. H. Anderson Company (1st edition, 1963). Black leatherette boards with blind-stamped outline map and state seal of Kentucky, gilt lettering, 121 pages. Ex-library, with the expected markings and card pocket. Card pocket overlaps the original library bookplate. Covers and spine show very little wear. Binding is sound; spine is straight. Pages lightly toned; clean and unmarked.

About the Book: Appointed to the bench in 1937, Mac Swinford was a Kentucky federal judge for almost 38 years. Judge Mac Swinford was one of the longest-serving federal judges in United States history. During his lengthy tenure in the Kentucky courts, he came to know and appreciate the deep complexity of the law, understanding that it could be solid and fluid, broad and narrow, kind and harsh, changeless yet always evolving. In this service to the state and to the law, he felt that it was often his fellow lawyers who touched and educated him most.

KENTUCKY LAWYER presents the most humorous, enlightening, and poignant moments of a remarkable fifty-year career. Judge Swinford offers a unique Kentucky history, recounting instances of the drama and romance of the Kentucky bar. In "A Kentucky Ghost Story," he takes readers to the banks of Crooked Creek in Harrison County, where the spirit of a wrongfully accused man still affects judicial decisions. "Cost of Love" recalls a trial in Carlisle County in which a scorned lover files suit against her ex-fiancé for breach of promise, claiming ten thousand dollars for a broken heart.

Remembering some of Kentucky's most revered and respected jurists, Judge Swinford relates American culture in its most intimate and significant sense, through the acts and expressions of local leaders in the everyday affairs of life. His stories of humble commitment highlight the lives of men such as Henry Clay, Lieutenant Governor Rodes K. Myers, and Senator Joe C.S. Blackburn, who championed unpopular cases and stood on the forefront of government and community affairs. KENTUCKY LAWYER pays tribute to some of Kentucky's "truly great men," with the hope that legend will preserve them for us in memory. This classic book illuminates the varied work and world of the twentieth-century lawyer with elegance and humor.