Emory Buckner
Encyclopedia
Emory Buckner was a prominent U.S. lawyer
who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he gained a reputation as one of the greatest prosecutors in American history. During his time at Root, Clark & Bird (which subsequently became Dewey Ballantine
), he was also one of the architects of modern Wall Street
's legal culture.
preacher. He attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
. When he contacted the dean of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law, Roscoe Pound
, about attending law school, Dean Pound encouraged Buckner to attend Harvard Law School
and raised money to pay Buckner's way. Buckner did well at Harvard Law School, and graduated near the top of his class. While in law school, he established a close friendship with Felix Frankfurter
which would prove to be a lifelong friendship.
. He first gained prominence there when he was just five years out of law school, when he was chosen to conduct a highly publicized investigation into corruption allegations at the New York Police Department.
law firm founded in 1909 by three of Buckner's law school classmates) to form the firm of Root, Clark, Buckner & Howland, a firm which spawned both Dewey Ballantine
(which today is Dewey & LeBoeuf
) and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
, he directed highly publicized trials of the operators of speakeasies. He also gained national notoriety when he insisted on prosecuting Harry M. Daugherty
, (United States Attorney General
under Warren G. Harding
) for bribe taking, against the wishes of the Coolidge
administration.
" for junior members of a law firm
, which replaced the older term, "law clerk". At his urging, Root, Clark became the first law firm to pay its associates an annual bonus out of the firm's profits. He also initiated the practice of having an annual luncheon with hiring partners at the other Wall Street firms, at which they set the "going rate" for associate salaries. Under his leadership, Root, Clark also became the first of the white shoe firms to accept Jewish applicants. Buckner disdained rival firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore
's tendency to "hold associates' hands" and insisted on delegating the maximum possible amount of work to his young associates: by systematically under-staffing cases, Buckner was able to provide his clients with quality work product at cheaper rates.
Under Buckner's leadership, Root, Clark also became the first firm to encourage associates to come to the firm directly after law school instead of spending time in public service before joining the firm. Buckner's friend Frankfurter deplored the practice and it led to some tension between the two, particularly in 1926-27, when the two had a heated argument over Henry Friendly
. Frankfurter, who was Friendly's teacher at Harvard Law, encouraged Friendly to spend a fourth year at law school, then spend a year clerking
for Louis Brandeis
, and then return to the Harvard Law School faculty. Buckner encouraged Friendly to clerk immediately, and then come to Root, Clark. Buckner won out, and Friendly joined Root, Clark in 1928, where he became a partner. (With five other Root, Clark partners, Friendly founded Cleary, Friendly, Gottlieb & Steen, the predecessor of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, in 1946.)
Buckner and Frankfurter clashed again five years later over another of Frankfurter's students, Telford Taylor
, but this time Frankfurter was successful, and Taylor never joined Root, Clark.
Buckner explored the possibility of leveraging the notoriety he gained as US Attorney into a run for governor of New York
, but reconsidered after he suffered a stroke
in 1934. During this period, his chief assistant at Root, Clark was John Marshall Harlan II
, who would later serve with Buckner's friend Frankfurter on the United States Supreme Court.
Buckner died in 1941, at the age of 63. His obituary in the New York Times said
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he gained a reputation as one of the greatest prosecutors in American history. During his time at Root, Clark & Bird (which subsequently became Dewey Ballantine
Dewey Ballantine
Dewey Ballantine LLP was a white shoe corporate law firm headquartered in New York City. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae to form Dewey & LeBoeuf...
), he was also one of the architects of modern Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
's legal culture.
Background
Buckner was the son of an impoverished NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
preacher. He attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
. When he contacted the dean of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Law, Roscoe Pound
Roscoe Pound
Nathan Roscoe Pound was a distinguished American legal scholar and educator. He was Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936...
, about attending law school, Dean Pound encouraged Buckner to attend Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
and raised money to pay Buckner's way. Buckner did well at Harvard Law School, and graduated near the top of his class. While in law school, he established a close friendship with Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
which would prove to be a lifelong friendship.
Early years as a lawyer
Following graduation, he worked for the US Attorney's office and for the New York County district attorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
. He first gained prominence there when he was just five years out of law school, when he was chosen to conduct a highly publicized investigation into corruption allegations at the New York Police Department.
Years in private practice
Entering private practice, he formed a partnership, Buckner & Howland, which in 1913 merged with Root, Clark & Bird (a highly successful Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
law firm founded in 1909 by three of Buckner's law school classmates) to form the firm of Root, Clark, Buckner & Howland, a firm which spawned both Dewey Ballantine
Dewey Ballantine
Dewey Ballantine LLP was a white shoe corporate law firm headquartered in New York City. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae to form Dewey & LeBoeuf...
(which today is Dewey & LeBoeuf
Dewey & LeBoeuf
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is a prominent global white shoe law firm, headquartered in New York City. Originally founded in 1909, the firm currently has over 2400 lawyers spread throughout 26 offices in 15 countries on 4 continents, and is known primarily for its corporate, insurance, litigation, tax and...
) and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
US Attorney, 1925-27
Recognized as one of the greatest trial lawyers of his time, Buckner served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York 1925-27. In the midst of ProhibitionProhibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, he directed highly publicized trials of the operators of speakeasies. He also gained national notoriety when he insisted on prosecuting Harry M. Daugherty
Harry M. Daugherty
Harry Micajah Daugherty was an American politician. He is best known as a Republican Party boss, and member of the Ohio Gang, the name given to the group of advisors surrounding president Warren G...
, (United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
under Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
) for bribe taking, against the wishes of the Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
administration.
At Root, Clark, 1927-41
Returning to Root, Clark in 1927, Buckner became one of the architects of Wall Street's modern legal culture. Serving as Root, Clark's hiring partner, Buckner shaped a generation of the nation's top corporate lawyers. He is credited with coining the term "associateAssociate attorney
An associate attorney is a lower-level employee of a traditional law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a partner.-Attorneys:An associate may be a junior or senior associate, but normally does not yet hold an ownership interest in the firm even if they have been associated with the...
" for junior members of a law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
, which replaced the older term, "law clerk". At his urging, Root, Clark became the first law firm to pay its associates an annual bonus out of the firm's profits. He also initiated the practice of having an annual luncheon with hiring partners at the other Wall Street firms, at which they set the "going rate" for associate salaries. Under his leadership, Root, Clark also became the first of the white shoe firms to accept Jewish applicants. Buckner disdained rival firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is a prominent American law firm based in New York City, with an additional office in London. The second oldest firm in the country, Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners,...
's tendency to "hold associates' hands" and insisted on delegating the maximum possible amount of work to his young associates: by systematically under-staffing cases, Buckner was able to provide his clients with quality work product at cheaper rates.
Under Buckner's leadership, Root, Clark also became the first firm to encourage associates to come to the firm directly after law school instead of spending time in public service before joining the firm. Buckner's friend Frankfurter deplored the practice and it led to some tension between the two, particularly in 1926-27, when the two had a heated argument over Henry Friendly
Henry Friendly
Henry Jacob Friendly was a prominent judge in the United States, who sat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1959 through 1974 and in senior status until his death by suicide in 1986.- Before the bench :Judge Friendly graduated from...
. Frankfurter, who was Friendly's teacher at Harvard Law, encouraged Friendly to spend a fourth year at law school, then spend a year clerking
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
for Louis Brandeis
Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
, and then return to the Harvard Law School faculty. Buckner encouraged Friendly to clerk immediately, and then come to Root, Clark. Buckner won out, and Friendly joined Root, Clark in 1928, where he became a partner. (With five other Root, Clark partners, Friendly founded Cleary, Friendly, Gottlieb & Steen, the predecessor of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, in 1946.)
Buckner and Frankfurter clashed again five years later over another of Frankfurter's students, Telford Taylor
Telford Taylor
Telford Taylor was an American lawyer best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, his opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and his outspoken criticism of U.S...
, but this time Frankfurter was successful, and Taylor never joined Root, Clark.
Buckner explored the possibility of leveraging the notoriety he gained as US Attorney into a run for governor of New York
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
, but reconsidered after he suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1934. During this period, his chief assistant at Root, Clark was John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan II
John Marshall Harlan was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. His namesake was his grandfather John Marshall Harlan, another associate justice who served from 1877 to 1911.Harlan was a student at Upper Canada College and Appleby College and...
, who would later serve with Buckner's friend Frankfurter on the United States Supreme Court.
Buckner died in 1941, at the age of 63. His obituary in the New York Times said