Philadelphia lawyer n.
(US) a shrewd or unscrupulous lawyer, an expert in exploiting the minutiae of the law.
 | ‘Letter from Citizen of America to his Correspondent in Philadelphia’ in Universal Asylum and Columbian Mag. Apr. II 182: They have a proverb here [in London], which I do not know how to account for;—in speaking of a difficult point, they say, it would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer [DA]. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Balance 15 Nov. 363/1: It would (to use a Yankee phrase) puzzle a dozen Philadelphia lawyers, to unriddle the conduct of the democrats. | |
| Salem (NH) Observer 13 Mar. n.p.: New England folks have a saying, that three Philadelphia lawyers are a match for the devil. | |
| Legends of the West 46: Now it doesn’t take a Philadelphia lawyer to tell, that the man who serves the master one day, and the enemy six, has just six chances out of the seven to go to the devil. | |
| Quodlibet 160: Politics has got into a jumble that a Philadelphia lawyer couldn’t steer through them. | |
| Autobiog. of a Female Slave 139: You has put more questions to me than a Philadelphy lawyer could answer. | |
| Crisis 26 Dec. 4/1: The Judge refers to the manner of passing important laws in Congress and so mixing them up that any one less gifted than ‘a Philadelphia lawyer’ could never find them [DA]. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bell’s Life in Sydney 7 Sept. 3/3: Where the money comes from [...] is a mystery well calculated to bother the ingenuity of a ‘Philadelphia lawyer’. | |
| Americanisms 624: Philadelphia Lawyer, as smart as a, is a common phrase abroad as well as at home, to express supreme acuteness in legal matters and others. It is said that early in the history of the Republic, British sailors learnt to appreciate the shrewdness of members of the Philadelphia bar in helping them out of their difficulties, and that through their reports the reputation of these gentlemen spread far and wide. | |
| Conservative (Nebraska City, NE) 10 Aug. 3/3: Language has become so twisted that even a Philadelphipa lawyer could not tell [...] what constitutionalism means. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Daily Tel. 6 Nov. n.p.: ‘Racing in the Fog.’ ... what entertainment is afforded by a horse-race run ‘in camera,’ only a Philadelphia lawyer would be able to explain [F&H]. | |
| ‘Cape Cod Dialect – Addenda’ in DN III:v 421: Philadelphia lawyer, n. A very shrewd person. ‘That’s enough to puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer.’. | |
| Seattle Repub. (WA) 25 Oct. 4/2: It is so intricately remote that it would take a Philadelphia lawyer a lifetime to figure it out. | |
| Fighting Blood 46: I often heard old Ajariah snort that Len’s ‘wuss than a Philadelphia lawyer!’. | |
| (con. 1920s) Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 351: You got a line like a Philadelphia lawyer. | |
| Daily Times 28 Nov. 14/3: The new violation ticket will be in quadruplicate, and traffic officials say it takes a ‘Philadelphia lawyer’ to fix it [DA]. | |
| Last Exit to Brooklyn 17: What in hell are you? a Philadelphia lawyer? | |
| Serpico 243: The counterman said, ‘You can’t keep me here.’ ‘Don’t pull Philadelphia lawyer on me,’ Serpico replied. |