David Dudley Field II
Architect of the Field Code and procedural reform.
George Edward Perine · Public domain
David Dudley Field II (1805–1894) was an American lawyer and law reformer who transformed civil procedure. Born in Haddam, Connecticut, he was the eldest of ten children, including future Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, businessman Cyrus Field, and clergyman Henry Martyn Field. After graduating from Williams College in 1825, he studied law in Albany and settled in New York City, joining the prominent Sedgwick law firm. Following the deaths of his first wife, youngest child, and a brother in 1836, Field traveled to Europe for over a year to study courts and legal codes in England, France, and elsewhere. He returned convinced that American common law procedure required radical simplification. His reforms drew heavily on the 1825 Louisiana Code of Procedure, which itself blended French, Spanish, Roman, and common law traditions. In 1847, Field was appointed head of a state commission to revise court procedure. His work culminated in the 1850 enactment of the New York Code of Civil Procedure, known as the Field Code. It abolished the historic distinction between actions at law and suits in equity, requiring only a single civil action. More fundamentally, it created the modern concept of “procedure” as a unified category distinct from substantive law, merging what had previously been separate fields of “pleading” and “practice.” The Field Code was eventually adopted in twenty-seven states and influenced England’s Judicature Acts. Field also served briefly as a U.S. representative from New York in 1877.
- known_for
- Field Code of civil procedure; codification of law; reform and codification of procedure as a unified legal category
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Field was born in Haddam, Connecticut, the oldest of eight children (five sons and three daughters) of Rev. David Dudley Field I and Submit Dickenson Field. His brothers included U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, businessman Cyrus Field, and clergyman Henry Martyn Field. After practicing law for several years, Field became convinced that the common law in America needed radical changes. He returned to establish his own law firm, joined by brothers Stephen and Jonathan. Field devoted more than 40 years to codification, beginning with pamphlets and legislative testimony. The penal code was drafted by William Curtis Noyes, not Field.
Reader's Guide
David Dudley Field II's significance lies in his transformation of American civil procedure. Before the Field Code, common law jurisdictions treated 'pleading' and 'practice' as distinct bodies of law; Field joined them under the heading 'procedure,' inventing it as a coherent category defined in antithesis to substantive law. The Field Code abolished the distinction between actions at law and suits in equity, requiring only one civil action. It also took an expansive approach to evidence, allowing any person 'having organs of sense' to testify except the insane and very young children, though fifteen states excluded testimony from persons of various races when adopting the code. The Field Code was adopted, with changes, in 27 states and influenced England's Judicature Acts. Field's later civil code was adopted in large part by California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Guam. Field's work also extended to international law, where he proposed a codification of the laws of all nations. His legacy is the creation of modern procedural law and the spread of codification across the United States and beyond.
Did You Know?
- Field's brother Stephen Johnson Field served as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and his brother Cyrus Field created the Atlantic Cable.
- Field's civil code was repeatedly rejected by New York but later adopted by California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Guam (the latter adopting it as a complete code, not merely 'in large part').
Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Field's main contribution to legal procedure?
He argued that civil procedure should be treated as one coherent, codified category rather than a patchwork of separate common-law actions. His push to move from common-law pleading to code pleading was the central achievement of his career.
Why is he considered important in legal history?
His procedural reforms fundamentally restructured how American courts handle civil disputes, and the code-pleading model he championed spread across states and into federal practice. He is widely regarded as the architect of modern American civil procedure.
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