Chuck Lanehart’s new Caprock Chronicle reveals the legal profession in a developing Lubbock. Although the town’s population had a large percentage of lawyers, few were filing lawsuits. Practicing law before the 20th century required extensive travel, vast paperwork and easier bar exams.

The first felony crime in Lubbock County, involved the theft of a horse. Where a horse was a common mode of transportation in 1891, in 2016, Chevy and Ford pickup trucks were the most common theft in Texas.

Lanehart’s article further reveals the beginning of modern law practices in the early 1900’s. The oldest law firm still operating today, is Jones, Flygare, Brown & Wharton, P.C. One of the oldest criminal law firms in Lubbock is Chappell, Lanehart & Stangl P.C.