The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-02-13
FACTS ABOUT BIG FEES.
Fortunes Paid to Lawyers-A Few Instances
Of Hard Earned Retafners.

yer WHO TeCciNeS IHtu. IL dorsey saw
tit to pay Col. Ingersoll $l00,0OO for
his services in the star-route cases,
Dorsey probably got the worth of his
money. l have observed that lawyers
do not care to measure the value of
their services by the amount of the
verdict except when they win. 1t is
not an unfair rule that lawyers fees
should be governed by the Importance
of the interests involved. Mr.. Tilden
received fortune for his services in
railroad litigation and negotiations;
but as long as those who paid the
money were satisfied, lido not see
whose business it was but that of the
parties interested. Henry L. Clinton
is reported to have charged William H.
Vanderbilt over 5000, 900 in the Van
derbllt will case, and to have actually
received S75, 900. But there were mil
lions involved in that case. 1t is a
common thing for big lawyers to
charge 500 per day for their attend
ance In court. Practitioners of the
rank of Joseph H. Choate, +. N. Bangs,
John E. Burrill, William Fullerton,
j. X. Porter, d. d. Field, Thomas 0.
Shearman, and many others find no
difficulty in collecting such fees for
actual attendance in court.
"Big fees are common in will cases,
but allowances by the courts out of es-
tates are now limited to $4,000 a side.
Those were halcyon days for the law
yers when the surrogate could divide
the estate among the gentlemen of the
bar, leaving the litigants in debt In
the Taylor will case, few years ago,
the lawyers got not only all the estate,
but actually left the widow in debt af-
ter selling her clothes
''ln the Parish will case Charles
O'Conor received small fortune. In
the Hardin will case John X. Porter
got, | believe, about $28, He rep
resented the claim OF the alleged
widow. Henry Nicol has charged as
high as $500 a day. George Ticknor
Curtis had such a big bill in one of the
celebrated india-rubber cases that he
charged $1,000 for making it out.
'-Many big fees have been received
by patent lawyers. Prof. Morse spent
fortune in the courts defending his
first patents, but he got it all back in
the value of the patents. Every inyen-
ton of importance has cost its inven-
tor or owner dearly for legal services.
Signal instances of this fact have been
seen in the vulcanite rubber, barbed
iron fence, nickel-plating, burglar
alarm, sewing and other pat
ent cases, in all of which fortunes were
paid to lawyers. In such cases the la
Dor of lawyers is enormous, the respon-
sibility great, and the pay of course
appropriately large. Good patent law
yers get rich, but their brows are gen.
orally furrOwed with care.
MIR. Evarts has had some very bic
fees from corporations, from will cases,
and long contested suits. He could
show the record of great many S1O,-
OOo fees. When a suitor has hard
case he does not hesitate at paying a
few thousand dollars to a good lawyer.
A poor lawyer is very expensive lux
lry- When suitor with a good case
has been two or three times to the
court of appeals in consequence of his
awyer's blunders, he begins to think
t pays to get good one.
Not long ago it was unlawful and
lnprofessional for lawyer to have a
personal interest in the case of his eli
mt. This was obviously unjust to
,oor litigants. If man got injured
IN a railroad he was absolutely una
lie to get damages because of his pov-
rty. 1t got TO be proverbial that there :
vas no use suing corporation. The ,
'oor suitor was at disadvantage.
'ow it is lawful and reputable for n ,
awyer to become interested in the !
ase of his client, and to make his fees :
ontingent upon success. BY the op- 4
ration of the law of self-interest the ,
lwyer thus works harder than he 9TH :
rwise would. Many poor litigants y
ave in this way recovered verdicts {
'ho would otherwise have become va !
rants. | recollect memorable case q
here John b. Haskin took up the case h
poor woman with five children. 9
ho was really the widow of a wealthy fl
idower who had over and over again o
her as his wife, al Il
ough she and her children were un- w
lown to the first family. Mr.. Haskin ot
the poor woman and her 6,
lildren for years, while he fought the N
sc to the court of appeals against in
'hn II. Anthon, backed by the child q,
n of his first wife. OF course Mr.
askin was paid handsomely out of n,
e estate which he recovered for the n,
dow. ~
Many large corporations have sala- ST
ID lawyers to look after their busi- in
IS. Judge Dillon left the bench of of
3 United States court to take sal bu
Y of S20,000 from the Union Pacific lie
ilway company. Dudley Field has wi
d enormous fees out of the Erie Rail- en-
y company and the elevated rail III
Us. The lawyers saved the elevated tel
lways about $l,250,000 in the tax Ro
is with the city, as the courts cut
yn the bills about that sum.
The counsel for large corporations pc,
e Trinity church, the Equitable and lin
tual Life, the Standard Oil COM ly
ly, and institutions of like magni- the
e receive handsome incomes, and abe
'ote themselves largely to the busi- con
s of one client. low
Lawyers like Ben Butler, Roscoe per
killing, Senator Edmunds, or Judge cou
e Black could fill volumes of for
ords of biz fees. There is, in tai
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