Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/543

 The Green PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT £4.00 PER ANNUM. SINGLE NUMBERS 50 CENTS. Communications in regard to the contents of the Magazine should be addressed to the Editor, S. R. WRIGHTINGTON, 31 State Street, Boston, Mass. The Editor will be glad to receive contributions of articles of moderate length upon subjects of interest to the profession; also anything in the way of legal antiquities, facetiae, and anecdotes.

Alexander Cockburn, who remarked that the counsel for the defense " had better have The following editorial from the London Law abstained from making any observations which Journal is of especial interest at this time. involved the assurance of his own conviction." Of more than usual interest to the English Johnson, when asked by Boswell whether a lawyer will be the forthcoming meeting of the lawyer ought to support a cause which he American Bar Association. A committee of knew to be bad, replied: " Sir, you do not the association has drafted what purports to be know it to be good or bad till the judge a complete code of professional ethics, and the detennines it." That is really the conclusion discussion of these proposed canons, which .are of the matter. Much injustice wotild be done thirty-two in number, will be the main business if the character and eminence of a counsel were of the meeting. One of the draft rules is quite always to be regarded in determining the inconsistent with the traditions of the English justice of his client's cause, and this would be Bar. " A lawyer may counsel and maintain the inevitable result of the rule which the only such actions and proceedings as appear to American Law Association is to be asked to him just. His appearance in Court should be adopt. deemed equivalent to an assertion, on his honor, that, in his opinion, his client is justly LAW BINDINGS. entitled to some measure of relief." The The lawyer who is burdened with a library observance of such a regulation would, of of moldy sheep-clad volumes should take his course, be quite incompatible with the imper stand in favor of the cleaner and more dur sonality that belongs to the English advocate. "A man's rights," said Lord Bramwell, " are able buckram by refusing to buy the oldto be determined by the Court, not by his fashioned expensive book. The law libraries advocate or counsel. It is for want of are making an effort to induce publishers remembering this that foolish people object to to abandon "-law sheep " entirely. The fol lawyers that they will advocate a case against lowing letter from Mr. Edwin Gholsox, libra their own opinions. A client is entitled to say rian of the Cincinnati Law Library Associ to his counsel, ' I want your advocacy, not ation, states their point of view: your judgment; I prefer that of the Court.' ' "The law libraries of the country are now Lord Halsbury has expressed a similar view. facing a very serious problem. The income He has described the contention that " an of most of them is limited, hence, if the larger advocate is bound to convince himself by part of their available funds are spent for resomething like an original investigation that bindings, the number of new books which his client is in the right before he undertakes they are able to purchase is correspondingly the duty of acting for him " as " ridiculous, decreased, and this, of course, works to the impossible of performance, and calculated to detriment of the publishers. lead to great' injustice." The rule tha,t .an "It is no exaggeration for me to say, for it advocate ought not to express his personal is based upon my own experience here, that opinion in a criminal case has often been approximately one-fourth of the income of insisted upon. Sergeant Shee's expression of every large law library in the country is abso belief in the innocence of Palmer, the Rugeley lutely and needlessly wasted, and that this poisoner, drew a strong protest from Sir sum might be saved to them and put to a THE ETHICS OF ADVOCACY.