HISTORY OF LAW REPORTING
| THE KENT-JOHNSON COLLABORATION
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As young men in New York City, James Kent and William Johnson were personal friends long before Kent assumed the bench of Johnson became his Reporter.
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Their personal and professional collaboration established the foundation of official law reporting in New York and made New York Official Reports a model for the nation. In adminration of their work, United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story was moved to remark: No lawayer can ever express a better wish for his country's jurisprudence than that it may possess such a Chancellor and such a reporter."
Kent wrote on the occasion of Johnson's retirement that "you retire with my gratitude, love, and admiration. If my name is to live in judicial annals, it will be in association with yours." In addition, he later dedicated his Commentaries to Johnson. Johnson, in turn, dedicated his Chancery Reports to Kent. |
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Above: Inscription written by William Johnson to Chancellor Kent. |
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Above:
James Kent's decidation of his Commentaries on American Law to William Johnson (James Kent, 1 Commentaries on American Law, at iii [2d ed, O. Halsted 1832]). Left: Dedication of William Johnson's Chancery Reports to James Kent (7 Johns Ch 3-4 [1832]). |
Above: Early street scene of Broadway, Albany, N.Y. Photograph courtesy of the New York State Dormitory Authority. |
The historical record does not reveal Chancellor Kent's role, if any, in the passage of the 1804 statute that initiated official reporting. Nevertheless, his contribution to the origins of official law reporting in New York is undeniable. Kent influenced the appointment of William Johnson to succeed Caines as official Reporter. Johnson’s Reports were noted for their thoroughness and accuracy, and he is credited with setting the high standard of the Official Reports. Following Kent's appointment as Chancellor, Johnson was also named the first official Reporter of the decisions of the Court of Chancery.
As the volume of reported opinions grew, Johnson recognized the need to provide a method for researchers to find opinions of interest. In 1815, he published a digest, organized by subject, of all opinions of the Supreme Court of Judicature and the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and the Correction of Errors. This was effectively the first compilation of the jurisprudence of the State of New York. Johnson continued to update the Digest in later years, and the Digest or "Index" has remained a feature of individual Official Reports volumes until the present day, but there would be no further comprehensive compilations of the Digest until the dawn of the twenty-first century. |
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