Philadelphia lawyer

Philadelphia lawyer

A shrewd, astute, and very skilled attorney. I don't mind paying taxes every year, but I wish it didn't take a Philadelphia lawyer just to understand how to fill in your return!
See also: lawyer
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Philadelphia lawyer

A shrewd attorney, adept at dealing with legal technicalities, as in It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to get him off. This expression dates from the late 1700s and, as lexicographer Richard H. Thornton observed: "Why members of the Philadelphia bar should be credited with superhuman sagacity has never been satisfactorily explained."
See also: lawyer
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

Philadelphia lawyer

An extremely shrewd attorney. This term dates from the eighteenth century. In 1734 John Peter Zenger, a printer, was charged with libel for printing an exposure of a corrupt New York governor, William Cosby. Zenger did not write the article, but his print shop could be attached for damages, whereas the writer was poor. Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia came out of retirement to defend the action, and to everyone’s surprise, his eloquent argument for freedom of the press not only won Zenger acquittal but established a precedent in American law, that a true statement was not libel. As the story proliferated, however, Hamilton was made out to be a legal trickster who collected a large fee (even though he had argued honestly and charged no fee at all), whence the current definition of a Philadelphia lawyer. The Salem Observer of March 13, 1824, stated, “The New England folks have a saying, that three Philadelphia lawyers are a match for the very devil himself.”
See also: lawyer
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer

Philadelphia lawyer

An adept attorney. The most probable reason why the City of Brotherly Love became an adjective for astute and skillful lawyers was Andrew Hamilton, whose 1735 defense of printer John Peter Zenger was a milestone of freedom of the press in America. (Lawyer Andrew should not be confused with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.) Although the Zenger trial was held in New York City, Hamilton was from Philadelphia. Curiously, it took some fifty years for the phrase to appear in print.
See also: lawyer
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • too far north
  • make good as
  • make good as (something)
  • Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.
  • Those who can, do; those who can't, teach
  • gladly
  • not suffer fools (gladly)
  • not suffer fools gladly
  • suffer
  • every trick in the book
References in periodicals archive
Snyder and Caplan, in the Philadelphia Lawyer essay, cited a report from the Netherlands, where euthanasia is illegal but the law is not strictly enforced.
Physician-assisted suicide: "slippery slope" or civil right?
With the agreements with players these days, you need a Philadelphia lawyer at times.
I hope SFA throw the book at big boys just like they did with us; REGAN GETS TOUGH ON PAYMENTS Spartans still smarting over contract cup KO
According to the girl's Philadelphia lawyer, Daniel P.
Police closes Weiner case
George Miller, a Philadelphia lawyer who handled the sale of the Halsey mill, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Company purchases pulp mill in Halsey
She won't go away and it's clear the majority of the fans don't want her to - though if there is to be a second marriage it might be worth hiring a Philadelphia lawyer to draw up the pre-nuptial contract.
Time to end this desperate crisis; Americans must walk away if it's in Anfield's best interests Sports VIEW
Philadelphia lawyer Michael Donovan, who represents the Wal-Mart class plaintiffs, offered a theory.
Lawyers in demand for wage-and-hour lawsuits
The nitty gritty is the health assessment criteria in accordance with legislation which would baffle a Philadelphia lawyer.
ViewpointsHomes vary so widely
You would need a Philadelphia lawyer to make head or tail of parts of it and it is important to be spot on before we start to avoid any problems down the line."
ROVERS FANS TO PUT TRUST IN CLUB
But they are merely phlegm-coated peas compared with the green torrent which will accompany Martin O'Neill impersonating a Philadelphia lawyer on the BBC's Euro 2000 pundit couch as he stonewalls questions about his future.
FOOTBALL: Take the high road Martin, and give everyone a break
Yet, as Labovitz tells it, in Philadelphia there would occur a "unique--and precedent-setting--defense of the Bill of Rights." Some of the Quaker elites who embodied the heritage of "tolerance and support for dissent" perceived McCarthyism as a direct affront to their values; some of the leaders of the city's bar saw in it a challenge to a tradition they sought to uphold--that of "the Philadelphia lawyer" as a defender of free speech.
Being Red in Philadelphia: A Memoir of the McCarthy Era
All the big bookies invoke this ruling, (you would need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to beat them), although I know some independents paid out to regulars.
GHOST STORY
Inspired by the real-life Innocence Project (which works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing), "The Divide'' focuses on a young Philadelphia lawyer named Christina Rosa, who has joined the Innocence Initiative and become obsessed with winning a last-ditch appeal for a white inmate soon facing execution for the murder of a black family.
'Scandal' actor creates new drama
"You don't have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to see the quality he possesses - the enthusiasm, the desire, the youthful exuberance and the talent and ability.
Football: Walcott is 'lethal', says Lee
Michael Donovan, a Philadelphia lawyer who served as local counsel for the plaintiffs in the class action, said Wal-Mart's own pay records provided evidence that the employees were not compensated for breaks.
Wage woes plague Wal-Mart
Walking through the menswear department, I remembered buying the suit I wore on my first day at work, a natty three-piece number that the news editor said made me look like a 'Philadelphia lawyer'.
'I SHED A TEAR FOR DAN EVANS STORE'