Morning journal and courier., 1889-09-17
Rie Legal Rees.

gathering up through its reporters some inter esting facts concerning large fees paid prom- inent lawyers in special cases for special work. The most lucrative classes of legal estate. Many lawyer has made his ever- lasting fortune out of single patent case. It is common report that George Harding received for his professional service in the litigation over the oleomargarine patent, enough money to enable him to build the enormous Hotel Kaaterskill, up in the Cate skill Mountains, and could nave retired from patent practice then and there had he been 50 disposed. MT. Harding, who, by the way, is that provsrbially acute parsonage "a Philadelphia lawyer" is yet in the prime of life, hale, white whiskered, rosy face, Eng fish looking and stoutly proportioned.
 It is possible that when he named this famous fee of his up in the Catskills he didn't know that Kaaterskill means "Tom Cat Creek" A resume of all the great patent Allegations of the past twenty-five years would be simply list of cases in
 which enormous fees have been paid, and
 said Mir. William Hildreth Field, "often earns fortune in one case, because he may often be compelled to give up for that one case all his other business, and for years, day in and day out, month after month and actually year After year, devote all his ener- gies to the mastery, first of the principles, the detail the technique of the patent, and then to placing them properly before the courts, getting decrees for his clients rights and emoiunents, and enforcing those deorees perhaps in every State in the Union.
 The Howe sewing machine patent is a case in point; there are, indeed, too many cases in point-cases, too, of the first magnitude to attempt to enumerate them-but, the Howe people retained as their counsel MT. Sordan. They told him he must give up all his other business and attend only to their patents. For this in the nature of fee
 they paid him large annual salary: But iu addition to that they had to give MT. Jor- don the right to retain at their expense at- torneys in many other States to which locally the progress of any suits Howe might have in court. These fees in the aggregate were enormous, but the income from which they were met was enormous. Every sewing machine in the country had to pay Howe $s for the use of his patent, on the eye in the point of needle for example The fee gations are easily estimated already at $1O,. O00, ,000, including the increase in stocl l which attorneys and promoters had giver ! them when the stock was worth conpara- | lively little. The fees received by the Edi' ! son and Westinghouse lawyers in the cleo ! trio light litigations which are constantly il progress have made them almost if not quit' ! nillionaires in a half dozen cities. Tn, l same may be said of the fees paid in thu ! matter of the Woodward blaming machine | the Mccormack reaper, and Winan's eight ! wheel car truck patents, the latter of whicl l was enormously valuable and expensive. Th ! counsel for the analine dye patent are reputet ! to have made fortunes The history indeed l of patent litigations in this country is his l tory of enormous fees.
 l In the suit brought by Jose G. De Navarro against the City of New York to recover tn, contract price for water meters worth mil lions, which the city ordered and then refuse, to accept, after tender, the attorneys re
 ceived fees running into the hundreds 0
 thousands. Aaron J. Vanderpool was "o1 counsel" Mir. James T. Brady in the famou I as fee. Senator Ewing father of "Tom ! Ewing the famous son of the famous fathe and grandfather, received very large fee
 close perhaps to $100, ,000, fer his services ii
 recovering large quantity of real estate fo
 the Stoddard family.
 Judge Hoadly was one of the counsel wh
 received in the litigation of the Columbus Chicago, Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroa
 oompany's affairs fee of nearly $20O, ,00C Railroad litigation has perhaps, made tn
 fortunes or at least temporarily enriched
 more lawyers, in this country than any othe
 one subject matter.
 Chief Justice Waite and Judge Thurma are said on excellent authority to have r ceived $75, ,000 apiece for their services som years ago to the Atlantic < Great Wester Railroad company. Green & Alexander's fe in the West Shore railroad matter is put $5O, ,O0O or more. No fee of less than half hundred thousand, indeed, is really wort
 mention in this connection. There are hul
 dreds more of them which can be cited he
 easily within the recollection of the greate
 leaders of the New York bar.
 ? In both making and breaking wills tl
 lawyers of New York add millions annual + to their bank accounts. Anywhere from $5' l. to SIG, ,0OO are charged for drawing g ri. :. mans will; anywhere from 5000 to $1O( GOO, and even more for breaking it.
 TT The story goes that Luther B. Marsh, lol t before the days of his Diss Debar illusion
 drew for James B. Taylor, who had lol
 been his client, without the question of fe D coming up between them, will in whi l. Taylor left Marsh $7, 500, and large St y besides to Mrs. Marsh for use in the charit