Educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, Maitland studied law at Lincoln's Inn, London, and was called to the bar in 1876. After practicing in London, he became reader in English law (1884) and professor (1888) at Cambridge. His best-known work, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I, 2 vol. (1895), was written with Sir Frederick Pollock (Pollock, Sir Frederick, 3rd Baronet); it became a classic and was widely cited simply as “Pollock and Maitland.” Among Maitland's other writings are Bracton's Note-Book (1887), an edition of the collected cases of the noted 13th-century English jurist Henry de Bracton (Bracton, Henry de); Roman Canon Law in the Church of England (1898); and English Law and the Renaissance (1901). He also edited several volumes published by the Selden Society for the study of English law, which he and others founded in 1887. His work helped to trace the influence of Roman law in English legal history.