Happy 450th: Far from Holding a Grudge, Lawyers Love Shakespeare

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” infamously wrote William Shakespeare in Henry the Sixth. Today, with the Bard’s 450^th birthday, it seems that members of the bar haven’t really held much of a grudge against Shakespeare for that less than supportive suggestion.

Law professors, attorneys, and student authors have taken quill in hand to pen numerous articles on Shakespeare and the law. Some topics include the view of justice in The Merchant of Venice, copyright and Shakespeare, regicide, and inheritance law in Hamlet. There’s also a Shakespeare cannon of statutory construction. A few authors have written to contest or even support Shakespeare’s lawyer disposal plan.

So Happy 450^th from the legal profession, Shakespeare. You don’t look a day over 250.