The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-11-08
THE LAW At FAULT,
Pension Attorneys and the Legislation
Limiting Their Fees.

The publications recently made in the daily
press and the recent utterances of Commits
sioner Dudley in regard to the methods pursued
by irresponsible pension attorneys of collecting
their fees, far as possible, in advance, and then
incontinently letting their clients cases take
care of themselves, have directed public atten-
ton anew to the Inconsistencies, defects, and
positive injustice of the present law limiting
the fees of claim agents, and it is the general
opinion of those who are acquainted with the
law and its workings, that instead of affsrding
our pensioners the protection it was designed
to bestow, it has exposed them to a greater
| tent than before to the wiles and tricks of un-
| scrupulous attorneys.
1t is of interest, therefore, at the present mo-
ment, to trace the history of the legislation
touching claim agents fees and show how it came
| about that law which was calculated to protect
| the interests of the pensioner at the same time
| that it guaranteed TO the attorney a reasonable
compensation for his labor-thus presenting an
| inducement to attorneys of ability and integ-
| rity to engage in this branch of the legal pro-
fession--was hastily repealed, and, in spite of
the protests of the best-inforined statesmen in
Congress- a buncombe law enacted in its stead.
Prior to 1870 the only law regulating attor-
| neys' fees was that of 1864, which limited the
fee to ten dollars, but applied only to pensions
granted under that act, which were compare
great mass of pension cases, no limit as to the
| fee which the claim agent might charge. To
| supply this omission bill was introduced at
| the second session of the Forty-first Congress
| (1670) to permanently fix the fees of attorneys
and the Senate and House not agreeing as to
| its provisions, Conference Committee was ap-
| pointed, which, after consultation with leading
attorneys, reported to the House in favor of
making the sections relating to fees read as
| follows:
THE $25 FEE BILL
Section z. And be u further enacted That the fee
of agents and attorneys for the preparation and
/ prosecution OF claim for pension or bounty land
under any or all of the various acts of Congress
granting the shall not exceed in any case the
sum of twenty-fv dollars It shall be the duty of
the agent attorney of record in the prosecution
of the case, TO to be fled with the Commits
soner of Pensions for his approval. duplicate art-
| cies OF agreement, without additional cost to the
claimant, setting forth the fee agreed upon by the
| parties, and which agreement shall be executed in
the presence OF and certified by officer COM
petent to administer oaths In all cases where ap-
piicaton is made for pension and bounty land, and
no agreement is fled with and approved by the
Commissioner as herein provided, the fee shall be
ten dollars, and no more.
| Section s. Ind be IL further enacted That any
agent or attorney who shall, directly indirectly
contract for demand receive, or retain any greater
compensation for his services such agent or at
torney in any claim for pension or bounty land
than Is prescribed allowed under the provisions
OF the preceding seeiien shall be deemed guilty of
| misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall
for every such ofense, be fined not exceeding $3.50
or imprisoned at hard labor not exceeding five
| years, or both, in the discretion Of the court
Section 9. Alsd be II further enacted Thatthe Com
missioner of Pensions shall forward the certificate
OF pension granted in any 10 the agent pay
ing pensions, where said certificate shall be made
i payable, and at the same time forward there
with one of the articles of agreement fled in the
case and approved by the Commissioner setting
| forth the fec agreed upon between the claimant
and the attorney agent, and where no agreement
IS on file, as hereinbeore provided he shall direct
pf1T y
| attorney.
Section TO- And be 1t further enacted That II shall
be the duty OF the agent paying such pension to
deduct nom the amount due the pensoner the
| amount OF fee Sc agreed upon or directed by the
| Commissioner to be paid where no agreement Is
filed and approved and to forward or cause 70 be
forwarded to the agent attorney of record named
IN the said agreement, there is no agree
ment, to the agent prosecuting the case the amount
of the proper fee. deducting therefrom the sum OF
thirty cents In payment OF his services III forward
| ing the same.
In advocating the passage of the bill in this
shape, Representative Benjamin, of Missouri
said
Now, in this report. we provide-and make the
provision applicable TO all acts granting pensions
| and TO ali acts granting bounty lands-that where
no compensation is agreed upon by the parties ten
dollars shall be the legal fee in all cases.
But we further provide that the parties may have
the privilege OF contracting with the claim agents
for the prosecution of their claims to pay fee not
exceeding twenty five dollars II is also provided
that in all such cases the contract shall be executed
In duplicate, without any expense to the pensoner
and filed with the papers with the Commits
sioner OF Pensions and be subject to his approval
and that the fee specified not exceeding twenty
five dollars, shall be considered legal fee unless I!
| IS dlsapproved by the Commissioner of Pensions
Then we further provide that instead of forward
ing the pension certificate to the claim agent il
| should be forwarded to the agent for the payment
of pensions where it properly belongs, together
with one of the copies of the agreement in relation TO
fees, and the agent for the payment of pensions shall
pay the amount TO the claim agent. As the matter
now stands the pension certificates are forwarded
| TO the claim agents, and they frequently withhold
them for a long time from the pensioners on one
pretext or another. We provide that in no case
shall the certificates go into the hands of the claim
agents. but they shall go into the hands the PEN
sion agents
Now one word further It seems to be necessary
that we should permit these parties TO contract
a larger fee than ten dollars The cases now pend.
ing are, the most of them, of such character as to
require extra labor to get them through they are
suspended cases, where the agent for the preseeu-
| ton of the pension viii not be- and perhaps can
not afford it, at the expense and trouble of prose.
| cutting them for ten dollars We, therefore
give them leave to contract for another sum- in nc
case to exceed twenty-five dollars But lest there
| should be some advantage taken in some cases we
permit the Commissioners of Pensions to annul even
that contract if he thinks undue influences have
been exerted upon the pensioner.
ACTION IN THE SENATE.
| There was no discussion of the bill in the
House after this explanation, and the repor;
of the Pension Committee was adopted. In
| the Senate, when the Dill as reported by the
Pension Committee came up for adoption
Senator Thayer, of Nebraska moved to strike
out section nine of the original bill or section
seven of this bill, as now amended, and to in
sert in lieu thereof
ATd be it further enacted That no attorney shall
receive larger fee than ten dollars for the prose
cution of any claim unless it be in such case as
may require laborious and extended services and
the claimant may, IN such case, prior to the issue
OF the certificate, enter into a written agreement
| for further adequate compensation which agree
ment must be acknowledged before proper officer
OF the law and by him certified to have been fully
explained and understood prior to the signature
| and the same shall be fled in the Pension Office
with the application for the pension.
This amendment was stoutly opposed by the
Senator from Vermont, Mr. Edmunds on the
ground that the result would be to renew
the limitation of law, fixing ten dollars as
the payment from each soldier for the prose-
cution of his claim, and to leave the soldier at
the mercy of the claim agent for such an
amount as he might contract for. :" It is true"
said he, " that there are some eases where it
would be proper to give more THAN the estab-
lished fee" j. And, in reply to an inquiry from
Senator Thayer as to whether he intended to
consider that subject in connection with any
bill then pending he replied: 81 ana willing to
do so. A gentleman in this town, who is claim
| agent in whose integrity and honor I have
confidence, $50, Senator Edmunds knew there
were some honest claim agents, after all said
he would submit us scheme he had presented
to the Secretary of the Interior or the Com