Hodgson Russ Traces its History Through Nearly 200 YearsApril 07, 2015 |
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The firm's website, www.hodgsonruss.com lists some of the firm's accomplishments over the span of nearly 200 years. Two US presidents were partners, and the firm, along with its predecessor firms, which merged with it, became a sterling part of the legal history of a young and growing America, evolving into an industrial giant and into the behemoth world power.
We take the liberty of freely borrowing from their website inasmuch as perhaps most of our readers, especially those who are taxpayers in Niagara Falls, may be unaware of the heady history of the law firm known today as Hodgson Russ which is representing their interests on a host of legal matters.
1817 Hodgson Russ's earliest predecessor firm is established in Buffalo, New York, by Asa Rice.
1825 In effort led by firm founder Asa Rice, the western terminus of the Erie Canal is completed in Buffalo.
1832 Buffalo incorporated as a city; firm partners Joseph Clary and Millard G. Fillmore draft first city charter.
1834 Millard G. Fillmore joins with Nathan K. Hall and Solomon G. Haven to form Hodgson Russ' predecessor firm, Fillmore, Hall & Haven.
1838 Partner Nathan K. Hall leads creation of Buffalo's public school system, the first tuition-free, tax-supported public school system in New York State.
1844 Wells Fargo, the country's first express transportation company, is formed in Buffalo with legal assistance from partner John G. Milburn.
1846 Partners Millard G. Fillmore and Nathan K. Hall obtain a charter for the University at Buffalo, then a private educational institution; Fillmore names the university's first chancellor.
1850 After the death of U.S. President Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th president of the United States.
1851 Former partner Solomon G. Haven elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
1855 Grover Cleveland accepts a clerkship at the firm.
1856 Partner Dennis Bowen serves as general counsel to the predecessor of M&T Bank.
1859 Grover Cleveland, still at the firm, is admitted to the bar.
1868 Partner Franklin D. Locke joins the firm, and its name is changed to Bowen, Rogers & Locke.
1879 Partners Franklin D. Locke and Louis L. Babcock begin firm's successful representation of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in 37-year litigation against the federal government concerning rights to Buffalo Harbor's North Pier.
Mid-19th century William Fargo, a national pioneer in the transportation business, is represented by the firm to establish and expand enterprises that included Wells Fargo and American Express Company.
Mid-19th century The firm represents major manufacturers, including Washburn Crosby Company (which later became part of General Mills), Birge Wallpaper Company, Lang Brewery, and James Dold Meatpackers.
1885 Former partner Grover Cleveland is elected the 22nd president of the United States.
1886 John G. Milburn and Franklin D. Locke represent the editor of the New York Evening Post in five-year libel case brought by the Reverend George Harvey Ball following election campaign of President Grover Cleveland.
1901 Partner John G. Milburn's efforts to bring the Pan-American Exposition (World's Fair) to Buffalo; President William McKinley is assassinated during the fair and dies at Milburn's house.
1903 Flour company Washburn Crosby, whose later merger formed General Mills, opens new flour mill in Buffalo; transaction handled by partner Louis L. Babcock.
1911 Representing John D. Rockefeller, partner John G. Milburn argues before the U.S. Supreme Court in seminal anti-trust case, United States v. Standard Oil Company.
1916 Partner Charles B. Sears appointed to bench, serving successively as justice of the New York State Supreme Court, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and later judge of the Court of Appeals.
1917 Hoyt & Spratt merges with Rogers, Locke & Babcock; firm name changes to Locke, Babcock, Spratt & Hollister.
1945 Hodgson, Russ, Andrews, Woods & Goodyear is formed
1945 Former partner Charles B. Sears serves as presiding judge during one of the Nuremberg trials of German war criminals following the end of World War II.
1962 Hodgson Russ represents the University at Buffalo as it becomes part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system; firm also helps the University at Buffalo Foundation receive its charter.
1964-68 Partners Hugh M. Russ II and H. Kenneth Schroeder successfully defend major insurance companies against suits by homeowners seeking to recover damages they claimed resulted from blasting by New York Power Authority resulting from development of hydroelectric power at Niagara Falls.
1986 Former partner Barber Conable appointed 7th president of the World Bank.
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