Kent, James (1763–1847)

US legal scholar. He was chief justice of the New York State Supreme Court 1804–14 and chancellor of the New York State court of chancery 1814–23, where his decisions and written opinions often implemented equity jurisdiction. He wrote the USA's first legal classic, Commentaries on American Law 1826–30, which provided the first systematic, clear approach to Anglo-American law.

He was born in Southeast, New York. He was Columbia College's first professor of law 1793–98.