Thomas Howard Fitnam (August 19, 1854 – April 5, 1919) was an American attorney who was one of the first

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

s to the justices of 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 ...

, serving Chief Justice Melville Fuller from 1888 to 1889. In 1854, Fitnam was born in Washington, D.C., to Rosella Dant and Thomas Fitnam, a harness maker. As a young man, Fitnam Jr. worked as a plasterer and printer. In June 1884, at age 30 Fitnam graduated from Georgetown University with a LL.B., where he won a prize for his essay. He continued his post-graduate studies at Georgetown, receiving his

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1885. In 1885, he worked as a pressman for the United States Government Printing Office. After clerking for the Supreme Court, Fitnam engaged in private practice and was an examiner and trustee in the Equity Court in Washington, D.C. Fitnam died in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 1919.

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1854 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Georgetown University Law Center alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Washington, D.C. {{US-law-bio-stub

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