Admitted to the bar in October 1768, John Jay entered into partnership with Robert R. Livingston for three years and thereafter operated his own law office until political involvements and military events made it necessary for him to forgo his practice. Jay represented litigants in the New York Supreme Court, in Chancery, in the Mayor’s Court of New York City, and in the inferior courts in Queens, Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange Counties.1 He benefited from his continued friendship with Benjamin Kissam, who recommended clients and cases to Jay. While his relatives were some of his most valued clients, his practice included people of various political persuasions, who would later range from Loyalists to Whigs.2