The ghosts of legal history and the Louisville connection

One hundred years ago, Louisville was a center for the law book publishing industry. I've seen a half dozen legal treatises, available on Google Books, from before World War I that were published by the Baldwin Law Book Company . The American Book Trade Directory of 1919 lists the Baldwin Law Book Company at 523 Court Place, next to Louisville Metro Hall.

Following the war to end all wars, Baldwin moved his company to Cleveland. In 1926 Mr. Baldwin purchased  Banks Law Publishing. In 1933 he consolidated the two companies  to form Banks-Baldwan Law Publishing Co. Banks-Baldwan later was purchased by the Thompson Corporation and then it was consolidated with West Publishing, also owned by Thompson, in 1996.  After Thompson's acquisition of the Reuter's Group in 2008,  Banks-Baldwan's Cleveland operation was phased out of existence by the end of 2010. The work done in Cleveland was shifted to New York, Minnesota, the Phillipines and India.

But, it began in Louisville.

Clearly, one hundred years later, it is time to start a new law publishing company. It's possible. Zero overhead. no printing costs, no distribution costs and near universal reach. Southern Specialty Law Publishing Company, Louisville, Kentucky.   The intersection of tradition and 21st Century technology.


Tom Fox, J. D.
Southern Specialty Law Publishing Company
Louisville, Kentucky

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This is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer.