, 1877-02-19
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
REFORM IN LAW PRACTICE.

HEFQRN LAW FHACfICE+
n he Editor af TA4 Tribune
CHICAGO, Feb. 15.-Whcn anything new Is
proposed, thousand enthusiasts applaud It,
and multitude Of croakcrs .icery It. SIandcr
travels faster than praise. Hence new ideas
must be exceedingly aggressive, rs well as
ucrftoriout, before they can bc adopted. Tho
practice In our courts Of law and ehanccry
originated in England Centuries tgu. ant, rcmsln
In this stats Without essential alteration. It
must hare Some merit to havp survived 20 long.
and set Il Is about ns poorly adnptctl 10 real
trnnaoctIons IN these progressive lays as sthEu
coach would he for carrying tho malls. AZ every
session OF tho Legislature numerous PROPOSE
tfons nrc presented 10 RETURN tho rract!ro, hut
are almost uniformly cried down anil en1othctcd
BY tho conservatives AMI eroakrrs. The ye1p
uf one otjcesor Is tnorc powerful to thxart re.
form than The most eloquent a']vusacy to favor
IT, Tho courts nf England have scvcra times re.
vlse1 and s!mplilea slclr practice: and but fcw
rear. ago abandoned all their nd tes forms Of
pleading and proceeding, mn. enacted systen @
At lenst l,alf Of tic stafes have abo|she.l the
old prurtica altogether, and adapted codca OF
procedure which render the practice Of law an
wrest1lng With teclulcaltIcs.
Why does Illinois remain content With u:
fosailfieross forms and meaningless tnuto]ogyf
Law Is said to be progressive science. hut our
state does not seem 70 Justify tho assertion.
our courts with declarations Of dozen counts
on the eanlo cause OF action. varied In form
rather than substance, and WITH the score of
special pleas in defense and rcp1icattsrs
ii rcaf!frlnanccl Why should every con-
siderable ,chanccry suit haze bushef or
two Of bills. answers, cross-bil1s, plcaa, execp.
ttons, aud ponderoi1s documents Without num-
her, in respect to very simple statu Of facts,
As 10 which a few pagca could concfscly tell tho
whole storyf Nobody over reads them except
tho lawyers who draw them. The courts makes
littlc OF no real usc OF them. Tho solicitors
lor In q fcw minutes. Why Should thcy not 10
so on paper at tho ouisetl The everlasting en-
largcn,ent and procraatlnatfon attcndlng suits
in Chanccry arise principally from tho painfully
tedious and prolonged documents made use Of
under the "establishcd placticc.h No such
thing Is now known In England or In the Code
stases ard we Should tako counsel Of their wls-
and not Of substance; oftcchnicality and not Of
merit, Of fiction and moi. Of fact.
statements OF faet Without ca%,stns- rum
locution, nil allegations verified, forms abolished,
brcvlty antl s'crtnctncas, md Thereby, pcrsp!-
aim Ii to furnish ample and efficient remedies,
without broadcast allegations Or cumbersome
records. lawyers fari1tnr with both schools Of
practice believe the tonmon-law practice, with
modern stmpllncauon, tho bcttcr: Doubtless
there nre c1cclllng points In cach. Itwould not
be great task to adopt ono OF the other
modern system to our country, and we hopc to
sec IL done.
A largo number OF bills arc pending in tho
General Assembly TO reform the practice III
many particulars, and will doubtless receive
rncrltctl support, but like our revenue systein.
d complete and symmetrical code thoroughly
considered would glrc tho best results.