Editing Henry Clay (section)

===Legal career===
[[File:Henry Clay's law office.jpg|thumb|upright=.90|View of Henry Clay's law office (1803–1810), Lexington, Kentucky]]

In November 1797, Clay relocated to Lexington, Kentucky, near where his parents and siblings resided. The Bluegrass region, with Lexington at its center, had quickly grown in the preceding decades but had only recently stopped being under the threat of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] raids. Lexington was an established town that hosted [[Transylvania University]], the first university west of the [[Appalachian Mountains]].{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=27–29}} Having already passed the Virginia Bar, Clay quickly received a Kentucky license to practice law. After apprenticing himself to Kentucky attorneys such as [[George Nicholas (politician)|George Nicholas]], [[John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General)|John Breckenridge]], and James Brown, Clay established his own law practice, frequently working on debt collections and land disputes.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=30–31}} Clay soon established a reputation for strong legal ability and courtroom oratory. In 1805, he was appointed to the faculty of Transylvania University where he taught, among others, future Kentucky Governor [[Robert P. Letcher]] and Robert Todd, the future father-in-law of [[Abraham Lincoln]].{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|p=43}}

Clay's most notable client was [[Aaron Burr]], who was indicted for treason in the [[Burr conspiracy]]. Clay and his law partner [[John Allen (soldier)|John Allen]] successfully defended Burr without a fee in 1807.<ref>Maurice G. Baxter, ''Henry Clay the lawyer'' (2000) pp 26–36.</ref> Thomas Jefferson later convinced Clay that Burr had been guilty of the charges.{{sfn|Eaton|1957|p=15}} Clay's legal practice was light after his election to Congress. In the 1823 case ''[[Green v. Biddle]]'', Clay submitted the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court's]] first [[amicus curiae]]. However, he lost that case.<ref>Baxter, pp 38–54.</ref>