William Patrick Lawlor (September 17, 1854 – July 24, 1926) was an associate justice of the
California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
from January 3, 1915, to July 25, 1926.
Biography
Lawlor was born in
Manhattan, New York City, New York, on September 17, 1854, the son of Irish immigrants, Patrick Lawlor and Eliza Maher.
Orphaned by the time he was 10 years of age, he received three years of public education in New York before coming to live with his uncle in
Paterson, New Jersey, after his parents' death.
In Paterson, he worked days as a bobbin boy in the textile factories, and attended night classes. In 1877, Lawlor moved to California and worked in the silver mines in
Napa.
[''Who's Who on the Pacific Coast'' (1913), page 338]
/ref> In 1885, he moved to San Francisco and became involved in Democratic party politics.The Commonwealth Club
The Commonwealth Club, is a private gentlemen's club in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, United States, USA. Its present clubhouse was completed in 1891. The defining structure of the Commonwealth Club Historic District, it is located at 4 ...
. He lived at 545 Powell Street, San Francisco.[
]
Legal career
Beginning at age 30, Lawlor studied law at University of California, Hastings College of Law
The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California a ...
, 1885-1887, and in the offices of Rhodes & Barstow and Dennis Spencer in San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.[ ( Augustus L. Rhodes was chief justice of California from 1870 to 1872.) On December 16, 1898, Governor ]James Budd
James Herbert Budd (May 18, 1851 – July 30, 1908) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. Involved in federal and state politics, Budd was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 2nd California district from 1883 to ...
named Lawlor, then age 40, a judge of the San Francisco County Superior Court
The Superior Court of California of the County of San Francisco is the state superior court with jurisdiction over the City and County of San Francisco.
History
In 1976 the Court helped to create the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, a ...
.Patrick Calhoun
Patrick Calhoun (March 21, 1856 – June 16, 1943) was the grandson of John C. Calhoun and Floride Calhoun, and the great-grandson of his namesake Patrick Calhoun. He is best known as a railroad baron of the late 19th century, and as the fou ...
, Tirey L. Ford
Tirey Lafayette Ford (December 29, 1857 – June 26, 1928) was an American lawyer and Republican politician who served as a California State Senator and the 18th Attorney-General of California. He acted as General Counsel for the United Railroa ...
, Thornwell Mullally, and William M. Abbott, officials of the United Railroads.
In 1910, Lawlor ran unsuccessfully against Republican candidate Henry A. Melvin for the California Supreme Court. In 1914, Lawlor was elected an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, replacing Frank M. Angellotti who was elected chief justice. Lawlor served in that position from January 3, 1915, until his death on July 25, 1926.
Personal life
On November 25, 1913, Lawlor married Mary Lee Henry.
References
External links
*
*
Past & Present Justices
California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
Selected publications
*
See also
* List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Govern ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawlor, William P.
1854 births
1926 deaths
Justices of the Supreme Court of California
U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law
20th-century American judges
Superior court judges in the United States
20th-century American lawyers
Lawyers from San Francisco
19th-century American lawyers