The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-08

| ent litigation. The patent LAWYER
must have mechanical ability and be-
sides, to be successful, possess unusual
| general capacity. u Real estate or land
lawyer, who almost entirely handles
real estate cases. The divorce law
| yer, who more or aess exclusively con-
| fines his work to divorce cases. The
! collection lawyer, fwho is a part Of or
maintains collection a encies and prac
tees little law save that pertaining
to debts and debtors. The criminal
lawyer, whose practice is largely con-
fined to defending criminals before the
court. Success in this direction is
almost impossible unless one be a re-
markable and convincing speaker and
pleader.
All successful lawyers, whether
| specialists or not, are proficient I'M
the fundamentals of the general law.
They learn to be lawyers first, to be
specialists afterwards.
Few Top Notchers.
AS in all professions, there is much
money, much satisfaction, and much
honor for the man at the TOP: but in
the law. particularly, it is extremely
difficult to approach the top. and not
one lawyer in 5000 comes anywhere
| near realizing his ambition
| In every business center there are
| one or more lawyers of considerable
ability, and there are in America up-
| wards Of 10000 really able practitioners
OF sufficient experience and capacity
| to handle most of the complicated
| cases. Below this grade there are
many more who are by no means de-
| hcient and who are thoroughly trust
| worthy and Of ability; and who receive
! fa1r incomes and who live comfortably.
put their prominence, if they have any
| IS not necessarily dependent upon
ri
! good citizens, public spirited, and to
! an extent at least receive their de-
| serts.
The young lawyer cannot reach le-
gal prominence nor car. he hope to ad-
vance more than step or two from
| the ranks until he has successfully pit
| ted himself against long established
and successful attorneys Alone he
must enter the battle, and win, If he
does win, against terrible odds. In law
| there is the hardest kind of competi-
tlon-competition SO fierce that it
| breaks the ordinary man and strains
| any man almost to the beraking point:
ana TINS competition allows only
Ialr remuneration to the man of con-
| siderable ability, and offers a very
| large reward both in money and in
| fane TO the man Of unusual capacity.
The ordinary boy has no business 10
think of becoming a lawyer.
Parental pride and desire" ought not
| 10 be allowed to count Many a pa
rent has trrevocably ruined his bow
| ana made failure out of what might
nave been a success by forcing him
into the law for any reason save a
| good reason.
or course, an ordinary bow NAV
STUDY law and eventually be admitted
TO the bar; he may put out his sign,
| and sooner or later he Will have some
a fnI hut L
adapted to the profession he will never
De allowed to assume responsibility,
ana the lew cases given him will be
| OF the smallest and most unimportant
character. He will not be half as much
| respected nor half as successful as is
Ile ordinary merchant or tradesman
NOT one boy in 10000 is fitted for
the law; and not one boy in 100 who
| wants TO be lawyer is adapted to
| the profession. OF course, the desire
TO be lawyer is the first requisite
! put the desire in itself is worth moth
| ing.
The successful lawyer must he
equipped with judicial mind, given
him by nature This kind of mind
! ne can get in no other way; it cannot
be taught him; it cannot be loaned
| him; 1T cannot be grated into him; he
must have it in the first place. With
| out 1t he cannot be more than a book
| "a c"CNAIlO41GI, dIlO all the study and
| pushing and crOWding will not make a
| good lawyer out of him. Development
| is possible only when there is some
| thing to develop.
The boy likely to become a good law
yer, and likely to make any kind OF
success of himself in that profession
| not only possesses, but displays. rea-
soning qualities, and has a pronounced
| power Of analysis. They may be crude
and undeveloped, but they are there,
| and if examination will not discover
| them in the boy, they never will come
| out in the man.
Early Qualities
At an early age this boy can reason
| out probable results from circumstan-
| tial data. He knows how to produce
| facts from probabilities; he enjoys dis
cussion; he invariably presents reason,
! or apparent reason, for any stand he
takes. He may or may not be more
| imam an ordinary student at school, as
book knowledge goes, but the bright
| lawyer generally springs from the
| bright student.
The boy who will make a good law
| yer wants to be a lawyer, and nothing
| but force can keep him out Of the law;
| he cannot be discouraged; a lawyer he
| will be If he has half a chance.
| The boy who does not want to be-
| a lawyer is, will never make a good
| lawyer, and forcing him into the law
| is criminal proceeding
Hardly without exception the boy
| destined to shine before the bar in
early life realizes and expresses
| strong desire for the profession, in
| diligently reads the reports of promi-
nent trials, and visits the court room
| as often as he can. Before he has
finished his common school education
| he has probably read one or more law
| DOCKS, and very likely among his fell
| lows ne Eas gotten up mock trials and
| debates on complicated subjects.
| The boy intended for the law should
II possible, receive full college
| course; he needs the actual knowledge
| OF a broad education. The discipline
| OF college life will have much to do
| with his success. More than half of
our eminent lawyers are college grad
! yates.
| No boy should enter the law simply
| as means of obtaining political prom
| 1nence; if he does, he will probably
Ia1l as a lawyer, and will not realize
| his office holdtng ambition He should,
yes, ne must, if he would materially
succeed, become a good lawyer first,
and from that he may step into any
conspicuous position open to him.
! The lawyer, unlike the business
man, is not tied down to working
| hours; his work Is seldom even; he
underworks and overworks; he rests
between.
The poor lawyer is a failure, a dis
| NAL failure, and his chances for any
KIND OF success are close to the zero
point. Because he is a lawyer he Is
supposed to know something, and he
| Is all the more despised if he does not
know anything orEnot much of any
| thing. utsE