University of Nebraska College of Law - Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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PREPARATION Fon THE STUDY or LAXV 69 raise the general educational level of the legal profession. If, however, a young man of limited general education is to be ad- mitted to the bar, it were much better that he prosecute his study of the law in a law college, surrounded by a scholarly atmosphere, than in a law office where the educational level is perhaps no higher than his own. It will avail nothing to close the law col- lege to those whose general education has not prepared them for the study of the law, if they can come to the bar through oiiice reading, with no preliminary training and much less knowledge of the law itself than the law college would have given them. Unless the higher standard of preliminary preparation be also demanded as a prerequisite of oflice reading, then such a demand on the part of the law schools is likely to lower rather than raise the general educational level of the profession. The remedy, therefore, lies in the higher standard of preliminary preparation for the study of law in the law oiiice, as well as admission to the law schools. It is often urged that severe requirements of preliminary gen- eral education would exclude from the profession many who are destined to become its brightest ornaments. It may be said that the names of Clay, Calhoun, and Lincoln, would never have adorned the roll of honor in the legal profession if a high standard of general education had been, in their day, required as a necessary qualiiieation for admission to the bar. It must, however, be re- membered that we new live in aiday when higher education forms a part of the great system of public schools. It may well be doubted whether any young man of our time, who has not the energy and determination to obtain a good general education, will ever attain distinction at the bar either with or without its ad- vantages. One can hardly conceive of a Clay, a Calhoun, or a Lincoln, surrounded by our present educational advantages, en- tering upon the study of the law without having laid a good foundation for it in general education. Neither will we believe that men like these would even in their day have been deter1'ed from entering their chosen profession because of any reasonable requirement of preliminary preparation. It is more than doubt- ful whether even these great men could have entered the law titty years later and with no better preliminary preparation achieved the same lll0IlSll1'C of success.

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68 THE DIGEST natural gift, yet nature can be much assisted by thorough gen- eral education and acquaintance with the best English writers- One unconsciously acquires something of the style of expression- of the authors whom he reads. A wise choice of English prose may do do much-to improve one's style of expression. The speeches of great orators may often be studied to advantage by those who wish to improve in public speaking. lVhile true elo- quence is essentially a natural gift, the power of clear and forci- ble expression is an art capable of successful cultivation. It is not so much in the acquisition of knowledge as in the in- tellectual training that thorough, general education is a necessary prerequisite to the successful study and practice of law. One- cannot delay entering upon the study of law until he has mas tered the science of medicine, merely because his first case may be one of malpractice, nor can he wait to master civil engineer- ing, because he may at once be called upon to try a case in- volving the proper construction of a railway bridge, but he ought not to enter upon the study of law until by long, per- sistent and patient study of other things he has acquired that power of mental concentration and endurance that will render' success in the study of the law probable. In all schemes of edu-- cation there are certain branches of knowledge that are permit- ted to be taken only after certain preliminary preparation has been made. This is because without such preparation there is no reasonable hope of success in them. The law isdihicult and abstruse, and the young man whose education is limited to the three Ris- ought not for his own good, as well as that of the public, to be permitted to enter upon the study of law with a view to its prac- tice. It is not contended that all well educated meniwould make- good lawyers, but it is true that no man will ever be likely to- reach high rank as a lawyer without a fair general education acquired either in or out of the schools. An efort is being made by the law schools of the country to' raise the requirements, as to the general education of the appli- cants for admission to their classes. So long as no preliminary preparation is required for oflilce reading with a view to being' admitted to the bar, such a movement among the law colleges is likely to defeat its own purpose. Its purpose doubtless is to

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70 THE DIGEST But whatever 1nay be said of the isolated few, the geniuses of the race, there can be no doubt that a fair general education is every year becoming more and more essential to success at the bar. And even those who have attained distinction without it, have done so not because of their lack of preliminary training, but only by overcoming disadvantages arising from it. That a genius succeeds at the bar, without general education, by no means proves that the average young man can safely neglect the advantages it confers. The mere possession of a college diploma should not be taken to qualify one to study law, nor should the lack of it necessarily ex- clude him. It is preliminary training and mental development that should be demanded, not a college degree. It may not be essential' that pronciency in any particular branch of knowledge should be shown. It is not accumulated knowledge, the posses- sion of a mass of undigested facts, that qualifies one for the study of law, but rather mental development and intellectual acumen, which are, indeed, the distinguishing characteristics of true edu- cation. The well equipped lawyer is an intellectual athlete. He cannot delay entering upon his profession until he has acquired all the general knowledge he will need in practice, but he should delay until he has acquired something of that mental development and intellectual strength that gives him the power of concentrated mental effort. There is no profession in which the power to master a subject thoroughly and qui.ckly is so essential to success as in that of the law. Cases are often won or lost by the ability of the lawyer, or his want of it, to master in a short space of time, the particular branch of knowledge involved in the controversy. The successful lawyer must possess the power to acquire this knowledge after he linds that it is necessary for him to use it. No one will ever reach the higher walks of the profession who plods through its fields thinking only of the loaves and fishes its practice will bring him. The empyreal atmosphere on the heights is breathed only by those who see in the law something more than the means of mak- ing a living-who can see in it a great system of principles, the growth of centuries, by which the social fabric is held together.