The nineteenth-century lawyer was a nonspecialized solo practitioner.

Evidence

As the nation’s population spread, so did lawyers. Wherever a community grew up, a lawyer would also settle and set up his office, handling whatever legal business came his way. Thus, the typical nineteenth-century lawyer was a nonspecialized solo practitioner, serving a wide diversity of clients and legal needs. As late as 1872, only one American law firm had as many as six lawyers. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1035

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Solo practice historically absorbed lawyers barred from major firms by background — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1053; Solo practice became the exception rather than the rule among American lawyers. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 683; Nineteenth-century American lawyers mostly practiced alone without specialization — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 682