I wondered about "Philadelphia Lawyers", too, but couldn't find anything definitive. Clearly Woody Guthrie was not a fan of the legal profession, distrusting anyone with the power to make change based on cold law and interpretation of regulation rather than on the justice of a particular instance. He wrote that wonderful line in Pretty Boy Floyd about the two kinds of thieves, "One will rob you with a six-gun, one with a fountain pen". Anyway, I have seen period references to Philadelphia Lawyers meaning "sharpies", people who push the law for their personal reasons, especially greed and power, without regard for justice so we know that the term didn't originate with Woody Guthrie.

I'll bet the Philadelphia Folk Society has tracked this down!

Sourdough