A discovery of Harris County district court records gives a look into the practice of law in the past. An opinion written by Chief Justice John Hemphill, the “John Marshall of Texas” was discovered and “ultimately decided the case” of Houston v. Lamar. A recent article indicates an accident “led to the 140-year delay in publication of the supreme court’s opinion …. almost vanished from historical record.”

The opinion is a result of litigation regarding “a simple case set against a complicated political backdrop”. Sam Houston sued Mirabeau B. Lamar for damaged furniture in the Presidential mansion on March 6, 1839, claiming “Lamar damaged or destroyed $2,000 worth of Houston’s furniture after promising to buy it.”

This article gives the story behind the two men and pieces together the lawsuit and “a glimpse into the routine practice of law in a very different legal world.”

Here is a link to the full article published by The Houston Lawyer magazine:
http://www.thehoustonlawyer.com/aa_jan08/page16.htm

Michelle