James Adair (serjeant)

James Adair, KS (died 21 July 1798) was an Irish serjeant-at-law. He was admitted to Peterhouse, Cambridge, and took a B.A. in 1764, and M.A. in 1767. He was educated in law, and in due course called for the bar by the society of Lincoln's Inn. In the early part of the reign of George III, he was ranked among the advocates of the popular side; in 1771, he was employed as counsel in the famous case of the House of Commons against the printers; and in this and other instances gave so much satisfaction to the citizens, that, on the death of Glynn, he was elected recorder,newgenbio|Adair, James] a post he held until 1789.cite book | first=Michael T | last=Davis | chapter=Adair, James (1743?–1798) | title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2004 | chapterurl=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/80 | accessdate=2007-05-29]

In 1774, he took the degree of serjeant, and afterwards confined his practice chiefly to the Common Pleas, in which court,—upon his promotion to be a king's serjeant (1782),—he for some years took the lead. On the rupture of the Whigs after the French revolution, he attached himself to the moderate party of Burke's division; and in 1794 was one of the counsel for the crown against Hardy, Tooke, and others, but had no very active part assigned him.

In 1796, he led against the crown, with Erskine as his junior, in defence of Stone, accused of treason, but acquitted. At different times he held a seat in parliament, and at the time of his death was member for Higham Ferrers. He also was counsel to the Board of Ordnance, and Chief Justice of Chester. His manner as a speaker was somewhat coarse, but it was impressive; he had great copiousness and fluency of delivery, and his powers of reasoning were of the highest order. He died suddenly at his house in Lincoln's Inn-fields, on 21 July 1798.

Works

Adair was author of several tracts.

*"Thoughts on the Dismission of Officers for their Conduct in Parliament" (1764)
*"Observations on the Power of Alienation in the Crown" (1768)
*"Discussions of the Law of Libels" (1785)

References