Andrew Hamilton (lawyer)

Andrew Hamilton
An 1808 portrait of Hamilton by Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller
18th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office
1736–1737
In office
1741–1749
Personal details
Bornc. 1676
Kingdom of Scotland
Died(1741-08-04)August 4, 1741
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British America
SpouseAnne Brown Preeson
ProfessionLawyer
Signature

Andrew Hamilton (c.1676 – August 4, 1741) was a Scottish lawyer in the Thirteen Colonies who settled in Philadelphia. He was best known for his legal victory on behalf of the printer and newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger. His involvement with the 1735 decision in New York helped to establish that truth is a defense to an accusation of libel. His eloquent defense concluded with saying that the press has "a liberty both of exposing and opposing tyrannical power by speaking and writing truth."

His success in this case has been said to have inspired the now-archaic term "Philadelphia lawyer", meaning a particularly adept and clever attorney, as in "It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to get him off."[1][2] His estate in Philadelphia, known as Bush Hill, was inherited by his son, William Hamilton, who leased it for use as the vice-president's house during the years that the city was the temporary capital of the United States.

  1. ^ Philadelphia Bar
  2. ^ "Philadelphia lawyer", at Merriam-Webster Dictionary