The practice of law shifted from courtroom litigation to transactional work

Evidence

This was an outstanding fact about the practice of law in the second half of the nineteenth century. Most lawyers still went to court, but the Wall Street lawyer, who perhaps never spoke to a judge except socially, made more money and had more prestige than any courtroom lawyer could hope for. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 3621

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Lawyer involvement may substitute for judicial supervision in approving employee settlements — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4623; Once court-centered, lawyer work now chiefly keeps clients out of litigation — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1218; Corporate lawyers’ real value lay in transactional skill, not courtroom advocacy — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1228 (+3 more)