a three-year clerkship was required. Peter responded by quickly relocating back to New York where he resumed his studies at King's College and clerked part-time (with his friend Robert R. Livingston) for William Smith, Jr. of New York City – one of the most distinguished lawyers of the day. It was there that he first encountered Blackstone's Commentaries – a text he regarded as a godsend for its clear and systematic presentation of the law. Peter graduated King's College in the spring of 1768 with highest honors and having won several prizes for scholarship. He immediately applied for admission to the bar, even though he was still five months shy of the required clerkship. He was anxious to practice seeing significant opportunities then for legal work. The Supreme Court overlooked his incomplete work record and, in January 1769, he was admitted to the bar. Career Peter Van Schaack opened a law office on Cedar Street in New York City. His prospects for success were outstanding. A top graduate of King's College, a former clerk of one of the most prominent lawyers of the day, and with the aid of retainers from Peter Silvester and his in-laws, he quickly developed a successful practice focusing on probate, debt collection, and disputed land titles. Kinderhook was embroiled in boundary disputes and Peter was called on to litigate several of them. Maxwell Bloomfield has noted that he developed the belief that “the insecurity of property rights in real estate transactions posed as great a threat to the welfare of the province as any of England’s tax measures.” In November 1770, The Moot was established, which provided an opportunity for practitioners (senior and junior) to debate points of law with the aim of seeking their improvement. Individual club members included: William Livingston, William Smith, James Duane, Samuel Jones, John Tabor Kempe, Peter Van Schaack, Rudolphus Ritzema, Benjamin Kissam, Gouverneur Morris, Stephen Delancey, John Jay, and others. Peter Van Schaack served as secretary. The Moot focused on issues of common law. The decisions arrived at as a result of the debates acquired great authority, and were considered as settled by the New York bar generally. On 24 March 1772, due to his growing reputation and with the aid of his wife's uncle John Cruger, Jr. (Speaker of the New York Assembly), Peter Van Schaack was appointed to collect, revise, and digest the laws of the Colony