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

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if word of :fdviee bq Qean Sbound 12 Lord Eldon, when applied to for advice by a father who had two sons, one sharp and quick, the other slow but painstaking, told him to make a lawyer of the latter. I was never anything myself, he added, but a plodderf' Although we may believe that his lord- ship's estimate of his abilities was too modest. it must be conceded that patient thoroughness was one of the chief causes of his great success in the profession. Perhaps in no other calling will patient and persistent hard work achieve more than in the law. Not only will hard work compensate for many fleliciencies, but even con- siderable abilities will not lead one far without it. Hence, I should say, first of all, don't be afraid of hard work. The beginner can not be too careful in everything that he does. If he learns the lawyer-like method first, he can determine later in his professional life what may be omitted or relaxed without harm. Don't think there will be nothing for you to do in the years you may be obliged to wait for business. Gnly by spending that time of waiting properly will you be enabled to do, and hence to keep, the business when it comes. For one thing, if you can find the time, read the reports of the state in which you are practicing. Don't wait till a case arises and then rush for a digest. Know what is in the reports. The older lawyers, who have tried or argued the cases in the reports or referred to them repeatedly, have a great advantage of you here, but if they have more experience and a larger acquaintance with the reported decisions, you will have more tirne. And you will be surprised to find how much experience may be neutralized by the surplus of time and greater capacity for work a young man has to throw into the scale. If you read the reports of your state carefully, volume by volume, you will in the end economize this time, which is a young lawyer's chief asset. In doing this you need not become what is called a case lawyer. I am inclined to think the real case lawyer is he who knows so little of the cases that he is frightened at superficial analogies in the re- ports and in terror of the case on all fours. There is no danger that a lawyer who really knows the cases will become a slave to them. I-Ie is their master. Moreover, those who talk loudest about '77

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DEAN POUND

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principles sometimes do it to cloak ignorance of the law. The principles with which you will be concerned immediately are those by which the courts in your jurisdiction decide cases. Those prin- ciples must be deduced from the reports. Don't despise or affect to despise the clerical details of the lawyer's business. Learn how costs are taxed, and go over the statutory tariff of fees and costs. Learn what the various dockets are and how to handle them. Make yourself familiar with the books of the register of deeds or recorder and get the knack of examining them with assurance and dispatch. It does not follow that you will turn into a drudge or a clerk. VVhen you have something better to do, you may leave these details to others, But the ability to do such work for yourself when necessary will always be valuable. Ask no 'one's advice what to do-. Dig out the proper practice, the proper tactics, the proper form, for yourself. You will not be able to argue to a court from the off-hand suggestion of one of your elders, and his suggestion may sometimes be worth just what is paid for it. Self help is not merely the best helpg it is the only safe help. I do not mean that anyone will be likely to mislead you intentionally. But unless he investigates more or less, the person you consult may not know as much about the points that are troubling you as you suppose, and the time you will have to spend in verifying his information would be spent much better in inform- ing yourself. There is no greater nuisance than the man who discusses all his cases with his colleagues at the bar and takes a sort of referendum before going to work for himself. Don't be afraid. It was the boast of a great lawyer, at the close of a long career at the bar, that he had never shrunk from a fair encounter with his elders nor bullied his juniors. Litigation is more or less a battle, and there is no quarter for those who are too weak to stand up and take blows. But a good case, well pre- pared, is an entrenchment behind which you may stand with confi- dence against anyone. It is no disgrace to be beaten by your seniors in the profession 3 and, if you prepare thoroughly and go in to win, you may not be beaten. If you are beaten, I would refer you to the person who said he would rather any day be knocked down by a man who had blood than picked up by one who hadn't. While you must work long and hard and unremittingly, don't become a legal monk. There are two things to be done-to get business, and to do it. Neither should be neglected unduly. Doing business properly is one good way to get more. A sound, well- directed activity in the community is another. The young lawyer must steer a middle course between complete immersion in the most 78