During the years leading up to the introduction of the Model T, Ford Motor Company's legal work was conducted through the corporate secretary's office. Former congressman and noted Detroit attorney Alfred Lucking acted as consulting attorney and chief counsel for the company and Henry Ford. With the success of the Model T and the phenomenal growth of Ford Motor Company after 1908, an internal staff of attorneys assumed greater control over day-to-day legal functions, eventually evolving into a separate legal department. The Legal Department supervised general litigation, dealer and supplier contracts, patent and trademark applications, personal injury cases, corporate, and Ford family real estate purchases, and the growing amount of government regulation over the emerging industry. In 1919, Clifford B. Longley joined the Ford legal staff becoming chief counsel in 1921 with legal staff in offices in Dearborn, Detroit, and the Rouge plant. In early 1929, Longley and Wallace Middleton, a staff attorney, left the company and formed the law firm Longley-Middleton. The law firm, renamed Bodman, Longley, Bogle & Middleton in 1932, assumed most of the legal work of Ford Motor Company leaving a small staff of specialist lawyers scattered in different departments and offices to handle patent applications and purchasing contracts. In 1945, a Legal Department was re-established in offices at the Rouge Administration Building. In 1947, a newly reorganized Office of the General Counsel with twenty-nine attorneys and headed by William T. Gossett replaced the Legal Department.
From the description of Legal Department (Ford Motor Company) records series, 1898-1927 (bulk 1912-1927). (The Henry Ford). WorldCat record id: 56572154
