{{Short description|American judge (1824–1900)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} '''Robert Coman Brickell''' (April 4, 1824 – November 20, 1900) was an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of Alabama]] from 1873 to 1874, and chief justice from 1874 to 1884, and again from 1894 to 1898.
==Biography== Born in [[Tuscumbia, Alabama]], and raised in [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]], Brickell's early education began in his father's print shop.<ref name="EoA">{{cite web |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Mariah |title=Robert C. Brickell |url=https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/robert-c-brickell/ |website=Encyclopedia of Alabama |publisher=Alabama Humanities Alliance |access-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907080528/https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/robert-c-brickell/ |archive-date=September 7, 2023 |date=July 7, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> He [[Reading law|studied law]] under Judge [[Daniel Coleman (judge)|Daniel Coleman]] to gain admission to the [[Alabama State Bar]] at 19 and initiated his law practice in Athens, later moving to Huntsville in 1851.<ref name="EoA"/>
In 1873, he was appointed as an associate justice by Governor David P. Lewis and became Chief Justice in 1875.<ref name="EoA"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Brickell, Robert Coman |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/brickell-robert-coman |website=West's Encyclopedia of American Law |access-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320152321/https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/brickell-robert-coman |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Brickell played a significant role in codifying Alabama laws, collaborating with P.J. Hamilton and J.P. Tillman.<ref name="EoA"/> His judicial tenure as chief justice was intermittently punctuated by health issues.<ref name="EoA"/> He contributed to the [[Code of Alabama]] (1886) and authored editions of "Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Alabama", commonly known as ''Brickell's Digest''.<ref name="EoA"/>
Brickell died on November 20, 1900, at the age of 86.<ref name="EoA"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Coman Brickell |url=https://huntsvillehistorycollection.org/hhc/browse-person.php?a=person&pe=Robert%20Coman%20Brickell |website=Huntsville History Collection |access-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326204617/https://huntsvillehistorycollection.org/hhc/browse-person.php?a=person&pe=Robert%20Coman%20Brickell |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Brickell's son, also named Robert Coman Brickell, served as [[Attorney General of Alabama]] from 1911 to 1915, and was later a circuit judge.<ref name="EoA"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=[[List of justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama|Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama]] |before=[[Thomas Minott Peters]] |after=[[Thomas J. Judge]] |years=1873–1874}} {{succession box |title=[[List of justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama|Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama]] |before=[[Thomas Minott Peters]]<br />[[George W. Stone]] |after=[[George W. Stone]]<br />[[Thomas N. McClellan]] |years=1874–1884<br />1894–1898}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brickell, Robert Coman}} [[Category:1824 births]] [[Category:1900 deaths]] [[Category:People from Tuscumbia, Alabama]] [[Category:U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law]] [[Category:Lawyers from Huntsville, Alabama]] [[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama]] [[Category:Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama]]