1794 LEGAL FEE AGREEMENT ADDRESSED TO FOUNDING FATHER LUTHER MARTIN AND PHILIP BARTON KEY—UNCLE OF FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
MARTIN, LUTHER and KEY, PHILIP BARTON. Original manuscript legal fee agreement addressed jointly to Luther Martin, Maryland attorney general and delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and Philip Barton Key, future federal judge and congressman and uncle of Francis Scott Key. October 21, 1794. Written and signed “Alexr Scott” by their client, probably Alexander Scott. One page with integral docket panel.
An uncommon early American legal document connecting two of the most distinguished attorneys of the Federal period.
The client writes:
“Gentlemen,
I promise to pay for your services in the case of the Thomases, in case you succeed, twelve guineas, and if you fail the half of the above sum.
Alexr Scott”
The document is then directed to:
“Luther Martin
and
Philip B. Key Esquires.”
Scott accordingly promised the attorneys twelve guineas if they succeeded in the case and six guineas if they failed. The agreement is a striking early example of a success-based or contingent legal fee. Its continued use of the British guinea also illustrates the persistence of colonial monetary conventions during the first years of the American republic.
Luther Martin (1748–1826) was one of the most formidable courtroom advocates of the Founding era. A Revolutionary patriot and longtime attorney general of Maryland, Martin represented the state at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He opposed the final Constitution because he believed that it granted excessive authority to the federal government and insufficiently protected the states and individual liberties. He became a leading Anti-Federalist whose objections contributed to the demand for a Bill of Rights.
Martin’s later clients included Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in his Senate impeachment trial and Aaron Burr during his celebrated 1807 trial for treason.
Philip Barton Key (1757–1815) studied law at the Middle Temple in London before developing a prominent Maryland practice. He later served as a federal circuit judge and represented Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1807 to 1813. Key was the uncle of Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” who later joined his uncle’s legal practice.
Martin and Key subsequently served together on the distinguished defense team that secured the acquittal of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in the historic 1805 impeachment trial. This 1794 agreement documents their professional association more than a decade before that landmark constitutional proceeding.
The precise identity of Alexander Scott and the litigation described as “the case of the Thomases” remain subjects for further research. The integral docket panel contains an early case-file notation that is only partially legible.
Neither Luther Martin nor Philip Barton Key signed the document; it was written and signed by their client and specifically addressed to them as his attorneys.
Condition: Numerous original filing folds with general toning, scattered staining and soiling, marginal wear, irregular edges, small losses, and several holes or short separations at fold intersections. A puncture and associated paper loss appear along the right edge. Despite these faults, the date, agreement, names of both attorneys, and the client’s concluding signature remain clear and substantially complete.
A remarkable survivor from the early American bar, directly associating two lawyers who would later participate in one of the most consequential impeachment trials in United States history.
MARTIN, LUTHER and KEY, PHILIP BARTON. Original manuscript legal fee agreement addressed jointly to Luther Martin, Maryland attorney general and delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and Philip Barton Key, future federal judge and congressman and uncle of Francis Scott Key. October 21, 1794. Written and signed “Alexr Scott” by their client, probably Alexander Scott. One page with integral docket panel.
An uncommon early American legal document connecting two of the most distinguished attorneys of the Federal period.
The client writes:
“Gentlemen,
I promise to pay for your services in the case of the Thomases, in case you succeed, twelve guineas, and if you fail the half of the above sum.
Alexr Scott”
The document is then directed to:
“Luther Martin
and
Philip B. Key Esquires.”
Scott accordingly promised the attorneys twelve guineas if they succeeded in the case and six guineas if they failed. The agreement is a striking early example of a success-based or contingent legal fee. Its continued use of the British guinea also illustrates the persistence of colonial monetary conventions during the first years of the American republic.
Luther Martin (1748–1826) was one of the most formidable courtroom advocates of the Founding era. A Revolutionary patriot and longtime attorney general of Maryland, Martin represented the state at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He opposed the final Constitution because he believed that it granted excessive authority to the federal government and insufficiently protected the states and individual liberties. He became a leading Anti-Federalist whose objections contributed to the demand for a Bill of Rights.
Martin’s later clients included Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in his Senate impeachment trial and Aaron Burr during his celebrated 1807 trial for treason.
Philip Barton Key (1757–1815) studied law at the Middle Temple in London before developing a prominent Maryland practice. He later served as a federal circuit judge and represented Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1807 to 1813. Key was the uncle of Francis Scott Key, author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” who later joined his uncle’s legal practice.
Martin and Key subsequently served together on the distinguished defense team that secured the acquittal of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in the historic 1805 impeachment trial. This 1794 agreement documents their professional association more than a decade before that landmark constitutional proceeding.
The precise identity of Alexander Scott and the litigation described as “the case of the Thomases” remain subjects for further research. The integral docket panel contains an early case-file notation that is only partially legible.
Neither Luther Martin nor Philip Barton Key signed the document; it was written and signed by their client and specifically addressed to them as his attorneys.
Condition: Numerous original filing folds with general toning, scattered staining and soiling, marginal wear, irregular edges, small losses, and several holes or short separations at fold intersections. A puncture and associated paper loss appear along the right edge. Despite these faults, the date, agreement, names of both attorneys, and the client’s concluding signature remain clear and substantially complete.
A remarkable survivor from the early American bar, directly associating two lawyers who would later participate in one of the most consequential impeachment trials in United States history.
