 In 1880 he became a law clerk of the first comptroller of the United States Treasury, a position he held until February 28, 1882.He also worked a number of famous legal cases.He was associate counsel of Jeremiah M. Wilson in the defense of Samuel L. Perry and of Martin I. Townsend in the defense of Johnson Chesnut Whittaker in a court of inquiry in April and May 1880 where Towsend and Greener successfully gained Whittaker release and the granting of a court-martial.