Abraham Lincoln had neither a law degree nor did he pass the bar exam, but he was granted a license to practice law. Daniel Jackson Oliver Wendell Holmes Morgan never had a license to practice in any state, but beginning in 1949, he tried lawsuits and defended the accused in many states, under many names. Morgan studied law on his own when he was in prison, and he was quite good at it. He would set up shop under the identity of another lawyer, argued his cases hard and won more than he lost, and when anyone got suspicious, would flee to another state and find another lawyer's name to use.
In 1960, he defended three teenagers accused of murder, and they were sentenced to death. But when Morgan ended up in the same prison, he continued giving his clients legal advice -and they trusted him still. In fact, when Morgan was confronted by more of his clients who had been sent to court from prison to testify against him, they all spoke of his legal skills in glowing terms. The fact was that his services were badly needed in the Black community in the mid-20th century. Still, Morgan was in and out of prison for identity theft and practicing law without a license in one state after another.
But the law allows a person to act as his own lawyer, and Morgan did so many times, once even arguing his case before the US Supreme Court, a feat that degreed and licensed lawyers dream of. Read the crazy story of Daniel Jackson Oliver Wendell Holmes Morgan at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: Ebony magazine)
