He then began studying law, first in the office of United States Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler and then with Roland S. Coxe.

He then practiced law largely on his own, although he occasionally associated with younger lawyers, including Charles G. Chick and Josiah P. Tucker in his later years.

[2] In the earlier days of his law practice, he jointly edited with George Minot the three-volume Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the First District, which contained his father's decisions as judge from 1847 to 1852.

[4] In 1853, he declined an offer from President Franklin Pierce (who had previously studied law in his father's office) to be Ambassador to Bolivia.

He also served as its vice-president in 1895, and in 1897 he drafted a bill that authorized the admission of women as members of the Society.

His funeral was attended by, among other people, Albert E. Pillsbury, William S. McNary, Samuel C. Lawrence, and Josiah H. Drummond.