The evening times., 1898-07-07
WOMEN WHO
/. PRACTICE LAW
But Little Encouragement Is
Offered to New Aspirants.
Those Who Are Succeeding Find Ii
Wiser to Employ n Masculine
Proxy to Argue Cases.

crOWu TINS profession, IL Is asserteu Dy
collegiate women who have given the sub
ject study. is fraught with disastrous re-
suits. 1t is forcing many of the highest
teaching attainment to accept a low
rate of pay, and in many cases to be con-
tent with inferior positions. This dis
couraging outlook is forcing more than
one young woman. however rich in de-
grees. prizes or fellowships. to seek 9TH
er means of livelihood.
Recently a young Master of Arts, ap-
paretnly born TO teach. perceiving little
or no possibility of advancement in that
line beyond board and clo:hes." turned
to the study of law. with the hope of
eventually finding in that field less COM
petition and larger pecuniary return.
That women are mentally competent to
master the intricacies of the law, and
try cases before jury of their peers.
is now ancient history. For years col
leges and universities have been grodu-
ating women from their law schools. and
the bars of various States have been ad-
mi ting them to practice. The point at
issue is not her fitness for the profession.
but is there bread and butter for her in
its practice? Undeniable is the fact that
to daSe no woman lawyer has made at
the New York bar a tangible impression
or scored what might be considered ma
terial success.
II think the main reason the women
lawyers of New York have not made the
progress TO which their ability and in
dustry entitle them" said Mrs. Clara
Foltz, who, after twelve years success
full practice at the bar of California,
came to this city two years ago and
opened offices, '.fs chiefly due to the fact
that they have been intimidated by the
ill-concealed. often rude opposition of
the legal fraternity.
THE New York bar Is extremely con-
servative. often TO the verge of rudeness.
Its women lawyers. happily. unlike too
many Of its men, cannot forget their
birth and breeding. consequently they
shrink from the tendency of their broth
ers at law 10 regard them as freaks.
rather than their mental equals. When
a woman takes an office and fails 10 make
the rent. wiseacres shake their heads
and say. 4 told you so; no place for wo-
mar.
who pays the rent of the boards of
kindergarten lawyers while they are
making political connections and enlarg-
ing their acquaintances? Some mother.
sister or old aunt. some member of that
incompetent sex whom they would scorn
to meet on equal footing in the courts:
gotten more law than the kindergartener
Will ever know. / advise every woman
who has academic training. a strong an
aytlical mind and a natural bent for the
law, 10 study and practice it. Ny prog
ress from the outset has beeen challenged
at every stel
THE position of the woman lawyer
today is exactly that of the woman ply
sician twenty-five years ago. She who
he,
buffs Of the pioneer. She must put on
her war paint and fight 10 the end If
she hcoes TO win.''
Miss Lavinia Lally took her degree in
the New York University Law School.
which is so often enormously confounded
with the Womans Law Glass. She was
admitted to practice last year. She is
reputed to be the only woman who is sue
ceeding in building up regular and prof
liable practice. She was practically rear
ed in the law. Employed at an early age
as stenographer ard typewriter in a large
law firm. she prepared papers in the most
important cases. without knowing their
true legal significance. This mechanical
preliminary training was invaluable when
she finally entered the university. Scarce
ly had she been admitted to practice when
the firm with which she had long been as
soc;ated dissolved. Its clients were chief
the affairs of the firm it was discovered
that she was the only person who had an
intimate knowledge of the cases involved.
In this manner she is virtually stepping
into practice that she herself uncon-
sciously made. Despite that she is max
ing the law pay. and her future seems
promising. Miss Lally does not hesitate
to say. Il wouldn't encourage any woman
to enter the practice of the law for live
9th inO IN,
more desirable to a woman of sensibiiity
than money, and they are not to be had
in the practice of the law. Experience has
taught me that il is TO the interests of my
clients to employ a masculine proxy
rather than appear in person and be re-
ferred to as the lady instead of the
counsel, in the case.
There is TO titled field in law for wo-
men said Rosalie Loew. ''All lies fall
low. She must put her hand to the pow.
SOW the seed and wait the harvest. l
think her chances of success are about on
a par with those of men. If she has the
elements of success. she will succeed: if
not. she will fail. just as hundreds of men
do every year"
Miss Loew is the assistant attorney of
the Legal Aid Society, of which Carl
Schurz is the attorney. She is cited
among the legal fraternity as ''the only
parchment Miss Loew denies. She says:
1T is because men lawyers encounter
me Oftener in the courts than other wo-
men lawyers. that they fancy l am max
ing money / am employed on a salary,
which prohibits me from accepting fees
from the clients / serve. 1t is valuable
experience to a certain point. but quite
different from setting up an office on my
own account and waiting for clients or
going out in the highways in pursuit Of
them"
Miss Loew's practice is confined to the
municipal courts. She has from eighteen
to twenty-three cases on the docket a
day. scattered among the eleven div
isions of the borough of New York. She
prepares the cases. argues them in person
and is responsible for their disposal. She
has been attorney for the society since
last August. and her work is never ceas-
ing. Her salary is said not to exceed 500
a month She was practically reared in
the law. as she Is the daughter of a law
yer, and assisted in his office before and
throughout her university course. Her
fiuency in the languages, especially the
jargons of the German Jewish element.
which largely make up the clientele of the
Legal Aid Society. renders her service al
most Invaluable. A large proportion of
her clients are women. She says that she
has found only courtesy sometimes over
whelming in her association at the bar.
The woman who does not want to az
que cases in court can cultivate other
departments of the law. The wealthiest
lawyers are among those never heard OF
in the courts Forensic ability is not i'm
perative to successful practice.
Another graduate of the New York
Law Sch0nl UhO rpcpntly An