David Hoffman (December 24, 1784November 11, 1854) was an American legal scholar. He taught law at the University of Maryland from 1814 to 1843. Hoffman wrote Hoffman's ''Course of Legal Study'', an influential early legal textbook. Hoffman was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on December 24, 1784, the youngest of eight brothers, to Dorothea Stierlin Lloyd and Peter Hoffman. His father, a businessman, had emigrated from Germany to Maryland. He attended St. John's College, but left in 1802 without receiving a degree. In 1816, he married Mary McKean. Hoffman left his professorship at the University of Maryland in 1836 to study in Europe. He received doctorates in law from the University of Maryland and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and a doctorate of both laws from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. He practiced law in Philadelphia from the late 1830s to 1847, when he left again for Europe. He died in

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on November 11, 1854. Hoffman was influenced by the political philosopher James Harrington. He thought it was important for American lawyers to be familiar with

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...

and civil law.

Works

* '' A Course of Legal Study'' (1817) * * * * ''Legal Hints'' (1846) * (2 volumes, 1853–55)

References

Sources

* * * 1784 births 1854 deaths Alumni of the University of Oxford American legal scholars Lawyers from Baltimore University of Göttingen alumni {{US-law-bio-stub