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A. Leo Weil

American lawyer (1858–1938)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ55770047 ↗
Source-derived summary

Adolphus Leo Weil (July 19, 1858 – September 17, 1938) was a Jewish-American lawyer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Life

Weil was born on July 19, 1858, in Keysville, Virginia, the son of Bavarian immigrants Isaac L. and Minnia Weil. He moved with his family to Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1869.

Weil began attending the University of Virginia in 1876 and graduated from there in 1879. He was admitted to the Virginia bar later that year, and by 1880 he was also admitted to the Ohio and Pennsylvania bar. He then began practicing law in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1880. In 1888, he moved to Pittsburgh, where he became the legal representative of large interests and made a specialty of corporation law. By 1916, he was senior member of the law firm Weil & Thorp, and by 1931 he was senior member of the law firm Weil, Christy & Weil with his two sons. He made a number of connections with oil and gas operators shortly after arriving in Pittsburgh, and over the years became involved in a number of leading cases related to the production and transportation of petroleum and natural gas. He was involved in one case before the United States Supreme Court related to a state's right to prohibit transportation of its own gas product beyond its own boundaries.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “A. Leo Weil” is american lawyer (1858–1938). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Weil, American and lawyer, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1858, 1938, 1869, 1876—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1858-01-01, 1858-07-19—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. For this dossier, Weil, American and lawyer is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american lawyer (1858–1938)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q55770047. VIAF identifies the subject as 11080807. The Library of Congress control number is n00077496. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1858, 1938, 1869 and 1876.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “A. Leo Weil”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow A. Leo Weil primary sources, A. Leo Weil archive and Weil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “A. Leo Weil”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “A. Leo Weil” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.