Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 18.pdf/582

 THE LONDON COURTS actions of tort only, be remitted to the county court, where the costs are much lighter. But this is merely a mitigation of the evil. It seems to be the general opinion that high costs discourage litigation. This may be true, but if they tend to obstruct the assertion of just rights and stimulate ficti tious claims they are not to be desired by the profession or by the laity.

FEES AND BUSINESS An American lawyer will be most curious about two things, as to which he will get the least reliable information; these are: how legal business comes and what are its rewards. In the case of the solicitor the acquire ment of a practice is apparently much like establishing a mercantile business. The majority of them doubtless begin as clerks in existing firms, and, if men of ability, either rise in the firm or form their own business connections. They are not ham pered by the same considerations of delicacy and etiquette as the barrister, but may seek employment, although, of course, the one guarantee of real success is the honest and efficient handling of affairs with which they may be entrusted. In all England and Wales but 17,000 solici tors took out annual certificates last year. This means the number of offices and does not include their clerks (many of whom have been admitted to practice as solicitors), nor those who, for one reason or another, do not practice. Solicitors, instead of being concentrated like the barristers in the Inns of Court in London, are scattered all over the kingdom. Some, especially in the small towns or poor quarters of London, are in a small way of business and must lead rather a precarious existence. A large firm, on the contrary, will have a staff like a bank or insurance company; with clerks, cashiers, bookkeepers, and assistants divided into

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such distinct departments that minor em ployees know only their own functions and little of the business as a whole. The profits of such a firm of solicitors are very large indeed. Much of the money is made, however, in the transaction of business which is not properly of the profession of law at all; such as the promotion of enter prises, the flotation of companies, etc.; just as there is a class of American lawyers pursuing the same lines. The barrister, in theory — and according to the traditions of the Bar — passes years awaiting recognition by the solicitors, and finally briefs begin to arrive which are re ceived by his clerk with the accompanying fee (in gold), as to which the barrister is quite in ignorance. Such, however, is not always the experi ence of the modern barrister. He supple ments his reading, sometimes by practical service for a short time in a solicitor's office, and nearly always by deviling for a junior barrister for from five to seven years without compensation. A devil main tains his own identity and may always be retained as a junior himself. Partnerships are unknown and anything approaching them would be the subject of severe dis cipline. A barrister may have some relative who is chairman of a railway or large city com pany, the solicitors of which will be apt to think of him when retaining counsel. In this and other ways, while he cannot re ceive business directly from an influential business friend or relative, but only through the medium of a solicitor, yet such connec tions are often definitely felt in giving the young barrister a start. However, his eventual success, like the solicitor's, depends upon how well he avails himself of his oppor tunities. When briefed as a junior without a leader in a small action, his fees may be "3 & i," meaning three guineas for the trial and one guinea for the "conference" with the solic itor. When briefed with a ladder, however,