author
Frederic DeWitt Wells
1874–1929
A New York lawyer and judge who turned courtroom experience into lively, accessible writing, he is best remembered for The Man in Court. His work opens a window onto the legal world of the early 1900s and explains it in a way ordinary readers could follow.
1 Audiobook
The Man in Court
by Frederic DeWitt Wells
About the author
Born in Brooklyn on March 25, 1874, Frederic DeWitt Wells was an American lawyer, judge, and author. He studied at Columbia and New York Law School, and his career was closely tied to public life and the practice of law in New York.
Wells is best known today for The Man in Court (1917), a book drawn from his experience on the bench as a justice of the Municipal Court of New York City. Rather than writing for specialists alone, he explained how courts worked, what lawyers and judges actually did, and how ordinary people encountered the justice system.
That mix of practical knowledge and clear explanation gives his writing much of its appeal. Though not a household name now, he left behind a vivid account of courtroom life in the United States during the early twentieth century.