FIELD, DAVID DUDLEY (1805-1894), American lawyer and law reformer, was born in Haddam, Conn., on Feb. 13, 1805. He graduated at Williams college in 1825, and settled in New York city, where he was admitted to the bar in 1828. Interested in the reformation of the common law, he visited Europe in 1836 and thoroughly investigated the courts, procedure and codes of England, France and other countries. Upon his return, he worked for 4o years to bring about a codification of the common law procedure in the United States. In 1846 he published a pamphlet, "The Reorganization of the Judiciary," which had its influence in persuading the New York State Constitutional Convention of that year to report in favour of a codification of the laws. Finally, in 1847, he was appointed head of a State commission to revise the practice and procedure. The code of civil procedure was reported and enacted in 1848, and by April 6, 1857, the code of civil and criminal procedure was completed and enacted.
Eventually, the civil code with some changes was adopted in 24 states, and the criminal code in 18; the civil code of procedure was adopted in England and Ireland in 1873, and later by several British colonies. In 1857 Field became chairman of a state corn mission for the reduction into a written and systematic code of the whole body of law of the state. Although this codification was adopted only in small part, it has served as a model after which most of the law codes of the United States have been constructed. In 1866 he proposed to the British National Association for the Promotion of Social Science a revision and codification of the laws of all nations. For an international commission of lawyers he prepared Draft Outlines of an International Code in 1872, which resulted in the foundation of the International Law Association at Brussels in 1873. During his life, Field gave considerable at tention to politics, and from Jan. to March 1877 served out in Congress the unexpired term of Smith Ely, elected mayor of New York city. His congressional career, though short, was crowded with activity. He died in New York city April 13, Part of his numerous pamphlets and addresses were collected in his Speeches, Arguments and Miscellaneous Papers . See also the Life of David Dudley Field (1898), by Rev. Henry Martyn Field.