University of Michigan Law School - Quad Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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not dependent upon the outward tinsel of. titles bestowed by prince or potentate. It has always been, since courts were established, a calling of distinction. 'By the Roman polity the advocates who had discharged the duties of their office with fidelity were held in special. honor and numbered among the Counts of the Empire. In France, from the commencement of the fourteenth century to the Revolution of 1790, advocates were constituted a lesser order of nobility, and like the orders of chivalry, purity of life and disinterested zeal in the cause of the poor and friendless were to distinguish them. The advocate under the French regime was subject to the rules and 'discipline of the order. Among these rules were the following: ' Ffrsf. He was not to take just and unjust causes alike without distinction, nor maintain such as he undertook with trickery, falla- cies and misquotations of authorities. ' I Semzzzi. He was not in his pleadings to indulge in abuse of the opposite party or his counsel. Thz'ra'. He was not to compromise the interests of his clients by absence from court when the cause in which he was retained was called on. Fazmffz. He was not to violate the respect due to the court, by either improper expressions or unbecoming gestures. FHM. He was not to exhibit a sordid avidity to gain by putting too high a price upon his services. - ' Sixik. He was not to make any bargain with his client for a share in the fruits of the judgment he might recover. Sezfefzfh. He was not to leada dissipated life, or one contrary to the modesty or gravity of his calling. Ezlghih. He was not, under pain of being disbarred, to refuse his services to the indigent anduoppressed. These rules in themselves embrace a code of ethics for the profession. They have come down to us through the centuries and are recognized everywhere as the common law, regulating the profes- sional conduct of the lawyer. Among these, the Sixth deserves more than passing notice. By the common law of England the crime called maintenance ns a suit or quarrel to the disturbance or h111Cl1'a11Ce Of right, and if he who maintains another in his suit is '50 have: bl' 3g1'CemC11f, P-211 C Of the land or debt, the offense is was where a man maintai

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llivx ilcluggllv lllt' powvl' lo olllvrs lo rule oyrgl-, ln Such :Vlf:K,llI1tl'y treciloni is liesl pi'esel'x'twl :incl pcrpi.'l.uatcil by parties to whom those ol' lilac lllllltl on public' questions yicltl an unwavering loyalty. ln such a voniniuuity it cannot well he otherwise than that party spirit must at times run high and partisanship pervarle the magg of the people. Political strife for the ascenclency engenqlerg and gives rise to many questionable modes of achieving success. Out of the niauitolil intricacies of our form of government, and the methods ailopteil. for ailniinistering it, purely party questions are brought torwaril for thc determination of the courts. It is at these times and unilcr such circumstances that the qualities of the judge are tried lilevateil to the bench by popular vote upon a party platform for a short term of years, and generally a candidate 'for re-election. he will be a strong-willed man and intrenched in integ- rity of the sterling sort, if gratitude for favors past, and hope of favors to come. do not affect his judgment when deciding questions of vital interest to his party. The conscientious honest judge, after election, knows no party, and yields no fealty to party inter- ests. He stands as a bulwark against injustice, in high as Well as in low places. The peasant in his cabin, and the millionaire in his palace stand on the same plane of equality before him. The strife of political parties contending for the mastery presents to him merely naked questions of law. The eyes of thepeople of the commonwealth are upon him. He may stand in a positionwhere the hope of advantage is on one side and a sense of duty upon the other. His only course is to obey the sense of duty, and when the storm of passion is over he will be justified in the sight and opinion of all persons: his judicial robes will be unsullied and the temple of justice unprofaned. I The lawyer is an officer ofcourt. His prime duty is to aid the court in the due administration of justice. To his hands are com- mitted the dearest interests of his clients. He is the repository of their secrets, and the trustee of their confidence. To his efforts his clients may owe the success of their cause. His ignorance, inattention or ,negligence may ruin them. Considering these things, We see at once the exalted position he occupies. The trusts reposed in him are sacred. None but a degraded villian will betray them. The honest, conscientious, upright lawyer is a true nobleman, for true nobility springs from chaste character and lofty motives, and is

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called champerty. By the Statute 33, Edward l, Vol. 2 Qr3o5j, it was enacted: Ch:uuperters, be they who move pleas or suits, or cause them to be moved by their own procurement or by others, and are at their proper costs to have part of the land in variance, or to have part of the gainsf, lilver since they were declared criminal acts under the statutes, maintenance, champerty, barratry and embracery have so continued in England, and in most of the United States until a recent date. But all such offences are now done away with in Michigan and in some of the other States, and the question arises whether it is now contrary to legal ethics to enter into an agreement with a client to institute or carry on a suit for a share of the spoils. It is no longer illegal. Ts it dishonorable? If such agreement to share in the spoils tends to debase the business of an advocate by making his profession depend upon a game of chance, if it tends to deprave his nature by inducing him to stir up litigation, encouraging law suits which have little or no merit in them, if the idea of running after clients and proposing to prosecute their claims for a share of the plunder, offends the high sense of honor which should charac- terize the profession in all his relations to society, then it is contrary to legal ethics, and contravenes that high code of honor which he is pledged to maintain. That it does belittle the lawyer in his own estimation and in the eyes of the public, cannot be gainsaid. The result of this practice is, and has been, that wheneverhan accident happens, causing death or personal injury, this class of attorneys hear of the injury before the surgeons do, and rush headlong for the scene, tumbling over each other in their haste to be the first on the ground, with a contract in their pocket already prepared for the injured person if he be not killed, or, if he is, then for the widow, if he have one, to sign-only leaving a blank to be filled, as to the share of the recovery the attorney shall have. This being filled in, the signature is obtained, and a suit promptly commenced, if the party refuses to settle at the attorneyis figures. Such an attorney never stops to inquire whether his client has a cause of action. He is taking the chances, .and banking upon the sympathies and preju- dices of a jury, if the defendant be a corporation. There can be no doubt but that such practice is unprofessional and contrary to legal ethics. ,Only one possible exception can be urged as an excuse. That is, where the party has a just and meritorious cause w