A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London Courts — John Shaqi
A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London CourtsLeaming, Thomas
History
A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London Courts
Leaming, Thomas
Courts -- Great Britain; Lawyers -- Great Britain
But the General Council of the English Bar renders an even greater
service to the profession in establishing standards of professional
conduct, not only in respect of morality, but in questions of
propriety and good taste. This is accomplished by resolutions upon
submitted questions which seem to fall into two classes: those which
are found contrary to a "Rule of the Profession" and those which are
pronounced to be "Undesirable Practices". These rulings (without
names or other particulars which might lead to identification) are
all reported in the "White Book", an annual book of practice in
general use, and constitute a code of ethics and etiquette.
An examination of these rulings shows very few findings upon
rudimentary morals; it apparently is taken for granted that lawyers
are familiar with such commandments as "Thou shalt not steal." They
deal chiefly with the more refined questions of professional conduct
which often present difficulties even to men of honest instincts but
who lack natural delicacy or experience.
An example of a course contrary to a rule of the profession is the
following:
"_County Court Judge's Sons_: It should be recognized as a
'Rule of the Profession' (the quotation marks are the
Council's) that no barrister should habitually practice in
any county court of which his father, or any near relative,
is the judge." An. St. 1895-1896, p. 6.
It is not necessary to discuss whether this would be applicable in
America. Here the principle is probably recognized in the larger
cities by the best element, whereas in the country, with only one
county judge, it would prevent a son's following his father's
profession. The ruling merely illustrates that in England there is
an authoritative body which could be asked to declare how the
profession regards such a difficult question as, whether suitors
should be obliged to see their cases won or lost by the arguments of
a son addressed to his father, or whether the son should be
excluded from the only court of his vicinity.
That a kind of sporting magnanimity is desirable but not required by
any 'rule of the profession', is shown in the following, which
refers to revenue laws requiring receipts and other papers to be
stamped in order to constitute evidence:
"_Stamps_: It is undesirable that counsel should object to
the admissibility of any document upon the ground that it
is not, or is insufficiently, stamped, unless such defect
goes to the validity of such document. It is also
undesirable that counsel should take part in any discussion
that may arise in support of any objection taken on the
ground aforesaid unless invited to do so by the court." An.
St. 1901-1902, p. 5.
The next point has been the subject of judicial rulings in America
to the same effect:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account