John William Wallace (February 17, 1815 – January 12, 1884) was an American lawyer and the seventh

reporter of decisions The Reporter of Decisions (sometimes known by other titles, such as Official Reporter or State Reporter) is the official responsible for publishing the decisions of a court. Traditionally, the decisions were published in books known as case repor ...

of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, serving from 1863 to 1874. Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1833 and studied law under his father and John Sergeant. He was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1836. While librarian to the Law Association of Philadelphia, he compiled three volumes of decisions of the

Third Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * E ...

, which sat in that city. He wrote The Reporters on English reporters and cases, first as an article in the ''American Law Magazine'' (1844), and then as a book in multiple editions (1845, 1855, 1882) that made his reputation. His twenty-three volumes of reports of the Supreme Court's cases (volumes 68-90) are highly respected for their quality. He also served as president of the Historical Society of Philadelphia (April 13, 1868 – January 12, 1884).Hampton L. Carson. ''A History of the Historical of Pennsylvania''. Philadelphia: The Society Under the Special Centennial Publication Fund, 1940. Volume 1, pp. 371-444. Wallace died in his hometown.

References

Wallace, John Wallace, John Reporters of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States {{US-law-bio-stub