Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-06-21
Madison, June Is.

/ recently retired from active participa-
! ton in legal affairs, should give the
annual address to the graduating class
OF the law department of the state uni
verSity, composed of young men just
entering upon legal practice. 1t was
an address full Of good advice based
on the speakers long experience as
lawyer and jurist, and it was
! listened to by most appreciatiye au-
dlence. Besides the members of the
law school there were many ladies
present in the assembly chamber as
we'll as men Well-knoWn in public life
and at the bar. Among them were
Regents Bartlett and Chynoweth. Dean
Bryant Judge Romance Bum, JUS
tees Winslow and Newman. Judge
Carpenter, ex-senator SpOOner, eN-
Congressman Jones and Bushnell, John
NJ. Ohn, State Superintendent Wells,
Attorney General O'COnnor, Profs.
Kerr and Davies, c.. n. Gregory. Rufus
B. Smith, H NJ. Lewis, District At
! tOrney Leary and many others. PreSi-
dent Ecke Of the senior law class pre-
sided and Dean Bryant also sat upon
the rOStrum. The latter was given a
rOuSlng welcome, and when President
Ecke alluded to him in his introduc-
tory remarks, ringing applause again
went up. Judge Lyon was also given
an ovation at the opening and close Of
his address, and his alluSiOn to matri-
mOnial affairs provoked another en-
thusiaStic Outhurst. President Ecke
made very happy little speech in in
PRODUCING the distinguished speaker.
In opening Judge Lyon said he es-
teemed it a great honor to thus address
the law class. Rhetoric, he declared,
he should not attempt, as it was for
the young, the imaginative, the
ardent, while unadorned expression
best beftted the aged. Were | to in
dictate in a few Words" he continued,
1.-The character and scope Of my dis
course, L should say that it consists
mainly of suggestions of the best
policies to be pursued In some of the
more frequently recurring contingent
cies of legal practice, and incidentally,
some, consideration of professional
ethics" Judge Lyon then impress
sively declared that one of the indiS-
penSable conditions of substantial
permanent success in the practice Of
law is continued, persistent study and
| legal investigation. None know the
law by intuition. None leap to great
ness in the profession at i bound.
Law must be learned by mastering its
fundamental principles, one by one.
This requires long and patient study.
Then the ability must be acquired cor
rectly to apply those principles to hui
man conduct and affairs. The speaker
then dwelt briefly on the almost count
| less causes of action Of which the
law took cogniZance. The one other
Indispensable condition OF success in
the judges estimation is strict honesty.
No professional act, he said, can be
justified which is contrary to the re-
quirements of good morals and per-
sOnal integrity. The highest hOnOrs
of the profession are won only by
honest practitioners. Our profession
has as high a code of honor as any
other, and the members of no other
profession excel lawyers in obedience
to the demands Of that code. No
others are more implicitly trusted, or
more faithful to their trust
The judge then spoke Of the matter
of location for young lawyers, but
offered no advise upon it, and then
told how wise it was to croSS-eXamine
ones clients before giving opinions
on their cases. Continuing, he said,
that when you have satisfied your
self what the facts of the case are
as they will probably appear on the
trial, you will proceed to investigate
and determine the rules of law ap-
plicable to those facts. In this in
vestigatiOn | advise you to examine
! first the statutes of your state and
ascertain whether there is any statute
affecting your case. You may lind
| one which solves your problem, thus
relieving you from further investlga-
ton Failing to lind any such statute
you should next ascertain whether
your court of last resort has adJudl-
Gated the question involved III your
case. In a few cases which l have
heard argued before our supreme court,
counsel have gone into exhaustive dis
cussionS of adjudicatiOnS elsewhere
perhaps conflicting adjudications-on
! questions which had heretofore been
put to rest by statutory enactment, or
settled by the judgments of the court
in which the argument was made
counsel being entirely ignorant of the
existence of such statutes or Judg-
ments. If your question has not been
thus determined by statute or judicial
decision, you will resort to common
law rules as determined by the adJu-
dications of courts elsewhere. Should
il happen that such foreign adjudica-
tons are in conflict on your question,
all you can do is to advise your client
of such conflict, and which line Of con
ffcting decisions, in your opinion, holds
the correct rule of law. leaving him
to take the risk of an adverse ruling
by the court which determines his case
When you have fully investigated the
legal propositions involved in the case
and not before. you will be ready tC
advise your client with more or less
positiyeness of his rights and obliga
tions. You should never allow yourself
to give an opinion upon which your
client is liable to act until you are sat
: isfied of the facts and the law Of the
case"
Great courtesy toward and patience
: with clients was strongly urged. Judge
Lyon held that if after due investiga
ton you are satisfied your client;