Morning journal and courier., 1881-05-16
Monday Morning, May 16. 1881.
MAKING LAWYERS,


 There are altogether too many persons in this country who figure as lawyers without
 having had the training necessary to make 8
 good or even fair lawyer; and this state of
 things will continue until admission to the
 bar is differently regulated. The require
 ments for admission now differ in all the
 States and even in different counties in the
 same State. These requirements are grouped
 in an article by Francis l.. Wellman, which
 appears in the current number of the Amer
 ican Looo Re0ieao. In Indiana all ssvoters''
 are admitted to practice in the courts of the
 State. Good moral character, citizenship
 and 21 years of age are made in part or in
 whole the basis of an admission in 33 States,
 Is require definite term of pupilage, vary ! ing -frem five years in Vermont to two years
 in seven States and three in nearly all the
 rest, and six make an allowance in the term
 of pupilage to college graduates. Six States prescribe course of reading, three require & year in lawyers office, two the filing of a certificate at the beginning of legal study and one, New Hampshire, pays its examiners. Ten States admit women to the bar. The examinations in four-ffths of the States are oral, carried on by the court or by lawyers appointed for the purpose, and by common consent offer insufficient tests of the capaci- ty or the learning of candidates. In fifteen States the diplomas of law schools, generally of those within the State only, are accepted in lieu of an examination The result of giving the diploma of a literary institution a peeuniary value by making it passport to profession has had it's inevitable effect in leading some law schools to increase the num- Der of their students by making the aequisi tion of diploma easy. The law schools in New York State by securing special legisla- tive privileges for their diplomas have done much to neutralize the attempts of the mem bers of the bar to raise the standard of ad- mission.
 Mir. Wellman points out that admission to the bar is more difficult abroad than in the United States. In England both barristers and solicitors are only admitted to practice after strict examinations, conducted in the one case by the inns of court and in the oth- CT by the incorporated law society, and in both cases under the control of barristers and solicitors already admitted to practice In becoming solicitor an expense of $2, 500 is usually incurred by the candidate in fees and premium. At least three years study is required of those becoming either barristers or solicitors, and in the latter instance a longer period in the absence of a university degree. Practice as an ''auocat" can be ob- tained in France only by bachelors of letters after three years law study and three years attendance on the courts. A university de- gree, legal examination and five years Fin the office of an 'tauoue" is needed before person is eligible as an ''aDoue" in the French court of appeals. Practice before this court is conducted by close corporation, upon much the same principle as obtains in the New York stock exchange, seats being sold by outgoing members. In Germany, revers- ing the English and American practice, a man is judge first and advocate afterward Both are in fact, as well as theory, govern ment officers, paid and appointed by it after 8 course of study extending over number of years.
 Mir. Wellman proposes plan which seems to be great improvement upon the present system, or lack of system. He would have State Board of six members appointed by the Supreme Court to hold oral and written ex- aminations, quarterly, at some designated point Instructors in law schools are to be ineligible for positions on this board which is to conduct preliminary examination for those who are not graduates of some college or university and a second final examination for admission to the bar. The first is to be about equivalent to an examination for col Iege, less Greek; the last is to be determined by the examiners who are to indicate in ad- vance the subjects and works upon which an examination will be had. Three full years study are required of candidates, certificate of an intention to begin the study must be filed and the diploma of law school may be admitted as equivalent to written examina- .ion in any two of the subjects designated for fee of $1O is required of each candidate, and the services ofssthe exam ners are to be paid, in part from this fee. This plar combines most of the better fea- lres of existing rules in different States. If t, or something like it, were adopted we mould certainly have fewer lawyers and as 8 rule, better ones than we now have.