Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by Ezra Ames. |

Alexander Hamilton is still the rage.

His namesake Tony-winning musical remains a hot ticket.

His downtown Manhattan tomb is perpetually festooned in flowers.

And the Founding Father will soon add an honorary degree from Albany Law School to his already impressive resume.

The school announced Wednesday that Hamilton is one of two honorees to receive ceremonial degrees from Albany this year. The second is real estate developer Edward Swyer, a longtime donor to the law school.

Alas, Hamilton won't be on hand at Albany Law's May 18 commencement. He died in 1804 after an ill-fated pistol duel with his political nemesis and erstwhile Vice President Aaron Burr. But his fifth great-grandson, Douglas Hamilton, is slated to accept the degree on the late statesman's behalf.

“Alexander Hamilton's ties to the Albany area are significant,” said Albany Law Dean Alicia Ouellette. “Hamilton studied law and practiced law in Albany. He wrote 'Federalist No. 1' while traveling between Albany and New York City. By conferring this degree, we are acknowledging his impact on the Capital region and New York's legal community.”

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Ironically, Hamilton never attended law school or completed a formal apprenticeship—which at the time was the traditional path into the profession. His service in the Revolutionary War earned him an exemption from the apprenticeship requirement, and instead Hamilton spent six months of 1781 studying the law on his own, apparently concentrating on Sir William Blackstone's “Commentaries on the Laws of England.”

Formal legal education in the United States wouldn't begin until several years after Hamilton entered the profession. The country's first law school, Litchfield Law School, in Litchfield, Connecticut, was founded in 1784. (Burr studied at the school.)

After a half-year of self-study, Hamilton passed the bar exam in 1782—no Scantron sheets here; it was an oral examination.

As an attorney, Hamilton represented Tories and British subjects in the aftermath of the war, as well as merchants and maritime insurance companies. He would go on to serve in the New York state Legislature, became an influential delegate at the Constitutional Convention, and served as the first secretary of the Treasury.

Hamilton has popped up elsewhere in the legal academy of late. Law professors around the country have been using the popularity of the musical “Hamilton” to impart lessons in the law.