Walton Hale Hamilton

Who was Walton Hale Hamilton?

Walton Hale Hamilton was an American law professor who taught at the Yale Law School, although he was an economist, not a lawyer. Considered a leading figure in the Legal Realism movement at Yale, Hamilton was a vigorous critic of legal formalism and sought to apply the insights of economic studies to the law. Hamilton taught courses in trade regulation, torts, and public control of business. He was a professor of law at the Yale Law School from 1928 to 1948, and was ultimately appointed Southmayd Professor of Law, emeritus.

He argued that legal concepts evolved in specific historical and social contexts and that, when they were removed from their context and generalized into universal legal principles, they led to socially undesirable, often unexpected results. He developed these arguments in a series of articles in the 1930s, which included: Affectation with a Public Interest, The Ancient Maxim Caveat Emptor, and The Path of Due Process of Law.