Levy Mayer (October 23, 1858 – August 14, 1922) was an American lawyer from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. A

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

of law, Mayer graduated from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

before he could even legally practice the profession in his hometown of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. After several years organizing the Chicago Law Library, Mayer practiced with

Adolf Kraus Adolf Kraus (February 26, 1850 – October 22, 1928) was an American lawyer, political figure, and Jewish leader. At the age of 15 he left the Bohemian town of Rokycany where he had grown up and emigrated to the United States. He worked on a f ...

. Mayer became one of the most infamous lawyers in Chicago by defending large corporations against anti-trust litigation. Furthermore, he successfully defended the Iroqouis Theater and its manager in the aftermath of the

Iroquois Theatre fire The Iroquois Theatre fire occurred on December 30, 1903, at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history, resulting in at least 602 deaths. Thea ...

. At the time of his death, he was considered one of the richest lawyers in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He is the namesake of Levy Mayer Hall at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and his law firm is today known as

Mayer Brown Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New Y ...

Biography

Levy Mayer was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, on October 23, 1858, the sixth of thirteen children. His parents had immigrated from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

three years earlier and moved to

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

when Mayer was young. Mayer attended public schools, including Chicago High School, where he graduated in 1874. He studied at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, then the

, graduating in 1876. When he returned to Chicago, he was hired as assistant librarian of the Law Institute in the

Rookery Building The Rookery Building is a historic office building located at 209 South LaSalle Street in the Chicago Loop. Completed by architects Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root of Burnham and Root in 1888, it is considered one of their masterpiec ...

, as he could not legally practice law until aged 21. He oversaw improvements at the library and, by the time he left, the collection exceeded 17,000 books. He edited two collections of manuscripts from

David Rorer David Rorer (May 12, 1806 – July 7, 1884) was a lawyer, judge, sometime politician, author and anti-slavery advocate from Burlington, Iowa, who played a prominent role in the early history of Burlington and in Iowa legal history, and is credited ...

, one on judicial & execution sales and the other on interstate or private international law. Mayer also organized the first printed catalog at the library. The

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

admitted Mayer to the bar upon reaching age 21; he then left the library to practice with Kraus & Brackett. When Brackett retired soon afterward,

admitted Mayer as junior partner of Kraus & Mayer. The firm was later known as Kraus Mayer & Stein and Moran Kraus Mayer & Stein. When Stein and Moran retired, the firm became Moran Mayer & Meyer. The firm focused on constitutional, corporation, and municipal law. He frequently defended corporations facing anti-trust suits, though he was often attacked in the press for it. He received legal fees from businesses he defended from $500,000 to $1 million. Mayer served as the legal adviser to the Chicago City Treasurer, occasionally also serving as adviser to the Cook County Treasurer. At the time of his death, he was the senior partner of Mayer, Meyer, Austrian & Platt and had offices in Chicago and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Major cases

Mayer co-founded the

Illinois Manufacturers' Association The Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA) is a trade association for manufacturing companies in Illinois. It bills itself as "the oldest and largest statewide manufacturing trade association in the United States." Based in Oak Brook, Illinois ...

and served as its general counsel. In 1895, he defended the group in the

in ''Ritchie v. People'', which outlawed the eight-hour workday limit for women. Likewise, he co-founded the Distiller's Securities Corporation. Mayer oversaw the 1899 acquisition of Siemens & Halske Electric Company of America by the

Electric Vehicle Company Electric Vehicle Company was an American automobile holding company and early pioneering manufacturer of automobiles. History The Electric Vehicle Company was founded September 27, 1897 as a holding company of battery-powered electric vehicle ...

. In 1903, Mayer defended the Iroquois Theatre following the

. Mayer was able to convince a judge to move the case to

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

and successfully had the charges against theater manager Will Davis dismissed. In 1905, charges against the theater were thrown out. When Illinois courts reopened the case against Davis, he had the venue moved to

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in and the county seat of Vermilion County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 33,027. As of 2019, the population was an estimated 30,479. History The area that is now Danville was once home to the Miami, K ...

. There, he convinced the judge that the city ordinances that targeted Davis were illegal. Davis was found not guilty. Mayer led the defense of the "Beef Trust" in '' Swift and Company v. United States'' in the

Supreme Court of the United States 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 ...

. Mayer defended the Employers' Association of Chicago against the United Brotherhood of Teamsters in the 1905 Chicago Teamsters' strike. In 1908, he defended the Mattoon City Railway Streetcar Company after an accident resulted in eighteen deaths. He led a fundraiser at the

Auditorium Theater The Auditorium Theatre is a music and performance venue located inside the Auditorium Building at 50 Ida B. Wells Drive in Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by the Richardsonian Romanesque Style of architect Henry Hobson Richardson, the building was ...

in 1916 to support Jews impoverished by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He defended

Charles Comiskey Charles Albert Comiskey (August 15, 1859 – October 26, 1931), nicknamed "Commy" or "The Old Roman", was an American Major League Baseball player, manager and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the American League, and was also ...

in 1919 during the

Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...

. Late in his life he worked with distillers to fight the

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...

. However, the effort was unsuccessful, as the Supreme Court dismissed the case in 1920. He oversaw the sale of the ''

Detroit Times Six different newspapers called the ''Detroit Times'' have been published in the city of Detroit; the most recent existed for six decades, from 1900-60. Overview *The first iteration of the ''Detroit Times'' was an antislavery bulletin only print ...

'' to

Arthur Brisbane Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century as well as a real estate investor. He was also a speech writer, orator, and public relations professional who coach ...

on behalf of

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

in 1921.

Personal life

Mayer married Rachel Meyer in 1886; they had two daughters: Hortense and Madeline. Mayer was not active in any religious body or social club, though he did hold a membership in the

Union League Club of Chicago The Union League Club of Chicago is a prominent civic and social club in Chicago that was founded in 1879. Its second and current clubhouse is located at 65 W Jackson Boulevard on the corner of Federal Street, in the Loop neighborhood of Chi ...

, the Germania Club, and the Iroquois Club. He lived on

Prairie Avenue Prairie Avenue is a north–south street on the South Side of Chicago, which historically extended from 16th Street in the Near South Side to the city's southern limits and beyond. The street has a rich history from its origins as a major trail ...

in Chicago and had a second home in Boston, Massachusetts, where his children were schooled. In his free time, Mayer collected rare books and wines. He was never active in politics, though he served as a delegate to the 1920 Illinois Constitutional convention. Mayer died in the

Blackstone Hotel The Blackstone Hotel is a historic 21-story hotel on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo Drive in the Michigan Boulevard Historic District in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Built between 1908 and 1910, it is on the Nation ...

on August 14, 1922. At the time of his death, his estate was estimated at $25 million. He was buried in

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is an American garden cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and at , is the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago. According to legend, the name "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's error – the a ...

in Chicago. After his death, Rachel donated a large sum of money to the

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law scho ...

; the university dedicated Levy Mayer hall in his honor in 1926.

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of ''Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

wrote a biography of Mayer in 1927.

Cases argued in Supreme Court of the United States

Mayer argued the following cases in the nation's highest court: *''Swan Land Cattle Co. v. Frank'' (1893) *''New Jersey v. Anderson'' (1906) *''Ferris v. Frohman'' (1912) *''Keatley v. Furey'' (1912) *''Hamilton v. Kentucky Distilleries & Warehouse Co.'' (1919) *''Rhode Island v. Palmer'' (1920) *''Stafford v. Wallace'' (1922)

References

Chicago Historical Society. "Mayer, Brown & Platt",''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', The Newberry Library, The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago, 2004.

"Levy Mayer, Famous Chicago Attorney, Dies Suddenly", ''Daily Jewish Courier'', August 15, 1922 via Foreign Language Press Survey, The Newberry Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Levy 1858 births 1922 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent Criminal defense lawyers Illinois lawyers Jews and Judaism in Chicago Lawyers from Chicago Lawyers from Richmond, Virginia Yale Law School alumni Yale College alumni 19th-century American lawyers