John Henry Wigmore

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Following his graduation from Harvard, Wigmore practiced law in Boston. While in practice, he served as a "long-distance clerk" for New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Doe and was mentored by future US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. During this time he also published papers regarding election law reform issues including the secret voting method (also known as the Australian Ballot), and fair ballot access laws.

In 1889, Wigmore was recruited as a foreign advisor to Meiji period Empire of Japan, and was assigned to teach law at Keio University in Tokyo. Wigmore was the only full-time professor at the University at the time and was "instrumental" in designing the law curriculum. He served at Keio University until 1892.

Once he arrived in Tokyo he "came under the spell of what is called Comparative Law", although his interest pre-dated his experiences in Japan. A key legacy of his time in Japan was a detailed study of the laws of the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo period Japan, which he edited and published as a series of papers while at Keio University. The collection of papers grew to 15 volumes under the collected title of Materials for the Study of Private Law in Old Japan before its completion in the mid-1930s.

Wigmore maintained his interest in comparative law for the rest of his life, becoming a prominent writer in the field and has been referred to as the "father of American comparative law", although some critics found his work "imaginary" and "needlessly uncritical". Despite his prominence, he is remembered more for popularizing the field of comparative law than for his scholarly contributions to it. His continuing fascination with similarities between legal systems around the world is evident in a 1932 article: "The legal profession throughout the world has the strongest ties that ought to bind, - ties of sentiment, ties of public duty, ties of common experience in human nature."

He was also a manager of the 1907-founded Comparative Law Bureau of the American Bar Association, whose Annual Bulletin was the first comparative law journal in the United States.

Wigmore accepted a teaching post at Northwestern University and returned to the United States in 1893. He taught torts, comparative law, and evidence. He became the first full-time dean of Northwestern Law School in 1901. In 1906, Wigmore helped establish the Northwestern University Law Review, which was a faculty-run publication in the early days.

During his career at Northwestern, Wigmore "transformed a relatively modest institution into one of the leading law schools in the United States." As a result of his successes, he was actively recruited by rival institutions including Yale and Columbia. Nevertheless, he remained dedicated to Northwestern.

In 1926, a 37-note carillon was commissioned and installed at the Law School. Now known as the "Wigmore Chimes," the carillon plays the "Counselor's Chorus," a song written by Wigmore for the Law School.

Wigmore served as Dean of Northwestern Law until 1929. Following his deanship, he remained a professor at the Law School taking emeritus status in 1934. He continued his work at Northwestern until his death on April 20, 1943 in a "freakish" taxi accident. His widow, Emma, died just four months later.

Wigmore continues to be honored by the University: he is the namesake of a prominent alumni club and the annual student-run "Law School musical" is called the Wigmore Follies.

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