The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-10-12
FOLLY TO STUDY LAW
LEADING MEMBERS OF BAR
 GIVE THIS ADVICE.
Profession is overcrowded in All the Large Cities - Business Has Shrunk 90 Per Cent. in Last
 Few Yeas.


 Few Yeas.
 i. Chicago Chronicle.
 | This article is intended expressly for l the benefit of any young man who may l be thinking of adopting the legal prof ss- | sion as his lifcwork. It may be useful also to the relatives and friends who are interested in his welfare and to whom he is apt to look for advice. It does not | propose to decide the question for him, but simply to put him in possession of l information which may in some measure assist him to decide it wisely for himself This service will be best rendered by answering for him those three questions What are the present condition and fu- ture prospects of the law business? What are the personal and natural qualifca- | tions for this business? What Is the value of certain ac .idental advantages as an inducement to take up this business as a lifework?
 It appears from interviews with ten representative membs.s of the legal pro- fession in Chicago that in the opinion | of most of them the general law busi- ness has shruna 50 per cent. in ten or fifteen years; that most of the causes which have produced this shrinkage are permanent; that thsre are twice as many lawyers Tn the city as are needed; that many of them are in a starving condi- tion; that the same fate may be expected | a little later to overtake the profession | in the country, and that 1t is the widest | folly in young man to think of study | ing law. Whether or not this is the con- dition also of every other profession or trade future articles of this character in | The Sunday Chronicle will assist a young man is determining.
 | So far as the condition and prospects of the law business are concerned, 1t happens that the facts have been pre- sented recently in a forcible and almost startling manner by an unusually well informed ard reliable authority. H. Ger aid Chapin, editor of the American Law yer of New York, has published an ar
 ticle on '"The Decline of the Practicing
 Llwyer," which is of the deepest interest
 to any one seeking such information.
 Decline in General Practice.
 The following paragraphs are from MT.
 Chapfn's Introductory remarks:
 It may seem gloomy and hazardous
 prophecy to say that within twenty years
 the individual or general practice attor-
 ney will be extinct save only in the
 remoter country districts Yet, after ob- serving the trend of events for a num-
 Der of years. and listening. as the author
 has. to the stories of many hundreds of attorneys throughout this country. he is forced to this conclusion
 Reduced to a chemical formula, com puted on a scale of ten. the sum of legal business may be said to be compounded of the following:
 Real estate. .. .. ...................3 parts
 Corporations. .. .. .. .............2 parts
 COmmerC1al cases ana COIleCt1OnS.Z parts
 Wills and administration of es-
 tates.. .....................1 part
 Accident and negligence suits. I part
 Defense of criminals. .............1 part
 MT. Chapin then proceeds to show how
 the law business of each of these da-
 partments has been almost entirely trany-
 ferred from the practicing lawyer to some
 sort of corporation in another line of bus
 mess.
 He begins with the real estate practice
 which he says was fifteen years ago the
 most lucrative branch of the lawyer s
 practice and which has now practically
 ceased to exist. Conveyancing and the
 examination of titles is now done by the title guaranty companies. which get the business by combining with 1t an ahso-
 lutely responsible guaranty of titles. all at the lowest rates. These companies have also absorbed the loan business by engaging in the sale of bonds and mort gages and guaranteeing to the purchas. CTS the payment of the principal and in- terest. The advantages offered by these companies are so great that frequently when a lawyer gets a little business in | this line he finds it to his advantage to | turn 1t over to a company and accept a
 commission. Defending special assess ! ments is still profitable branch of law practice. but threatens to disappear soon
 in consequence of projected Improvements
 in municipal law.
 Formerly lawyers enjoyed .. lucrative
 practice in the organization and guidance O. corporations, but now this business is all done by incorporation compani .s,
 which attract 1t by their low fees and
 by offering a number of modern conveni-
 encss. They nor only organize corpor- ation for $50, but will for $25 a year ad.
 ditional provide rooms for directors meet ings, write up their minutes prepare their reports and look after and perform all their statutory duties.
 Many years ago lawyers made a great deal of money out of collection cases, but
 this business has passed entirely into
 the hands of collection agencies. which | do not even employ legal assistants, but | rely entirely on persistent dunning, con- ducted by swarm of men on . salary | of $10 a week.
 No Business in Wills. The money that lawyers used to make
 mnistration of estates now goes into the hands of the trust companies. Where | these companies are made executors of | a will they draw the will gratuitousy | tion for the legal fees and the cheapness l and convent snce of this arrangement se- | cures for them nearly all the business. In other days lawyers were employed
 damage for personal injuries, but now | the defending of these suits has passed
 into the hands of the fidelity and cas-
 ualty companies. These companies insure | all damages on this account and take on | themselves the defense of all lawsuits | of this character that are brought against | them.
 Effect of the Changes. The disastrous effect of these changes | on the legal profession and the gloomy prospects of those who may press into | It's already overcrowded ranks are set | forth in lurd terms in the following par
 agraphs of Mir Chapin's article: | Tn New York city there are 10000 law | years, four-fifths of whom are dependent | upon the exercise of their profession as | a means of livelihood It is safe to say | that as a result of the conditions re- | corded. above 50 per cent of them are not | making over 800 per year. 25 per cent | not over $2.00O per year, Ia per cent. not l over $500. per cent. not over 5.000 and probably not much more than the re- maining l per cent. more than that amount.
 twenty-five firms which are gradually
 absorbing all business of any moment Each of these firms is divided into half
 a dozen departments, in charge of ex- perts in different branches of the profess sion. The members of the firm receive comparatively large incomes. while the salary of individuals of the working stan ranges from $l0 to $25 per week. Tho lower amount is the average. There are , thousands of young men of excellent | ability living on that income who under | the old regime would have become lead- | CTS of the bar instead of insignificant cogwheels of a mighty machine. | Country lawyers, while not obliged | to contend with such difficulties as weigh upon their city brethren. have, nevertha- ! less, the evil of over-crowding to cod-