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August 07, 2009
Lawyers as leaders: Daniel O'Connell, Barrister.
Query: Would this gentleman have Twittered, glued himself 24/7 to a computer, or shilled for Work-Life Balance? We think not. Here's another lawyer who came ready to play with brains, drive, patience, problem-solving skills, and personality out the wazoo. Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847), the "Liberator of Ireland", led a movement that forced the British to pass the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, allowing Catholics to become members of the British House of Commons. More about him here and here.
A serious and hard-working lawyer who stepped up, O'Connell was a consummate and legendary trial lawyer. He was also a bit of an actor--and way-fun just to be around. In a set of lectures published in 1901, John L. Stoddard said of him:
He was a typical Irishman of the best stock--wily, witty, eloquent, emotional and magnetic. His arrival in town was often an occasion for public rejoicing. His clever repartees were passed from lip to lip, until the island shook with laughter.
In court, he sometimes kept the spectators, jury, judge and even the prisoner, alternating between tears and roars of merriment. Celtic to the core, his subtle mind knew every trick peculiar to the Irish character, and he divined instinctively the shrewdest subterfuges of a shifty witness.
Source: March 30, 2009 HO post.
Posted by JD Hull at August 7, 2009 01:44 PM