New-York tribune., 1907-09-01
DEFEAT LAW
Methods by Which Its Majesty Is
lIOckcd.
BY Frederick Trevor Hill

The usual retort to the accusing inquiry % Ian
,.+,1-ers he honest?" is the counter question can
LAWYERS be more honest than their clientsE BE
hind every DEVILS advocate there must De Il deHL,
,rd the st1Dplv is regulated by the demand; out
+her is +hs 10 be said for the clents-they DO not
always know the means taken to achleVe thei.
ends Their innocence is often. perhaps tha' Oh
Tho burglars fence" who takes what comes 10
him and asks questions: yet sometimes II nap
pens that devil is not as black as his legal deputy
paints him. .
For instance it cannot be supposed for moment
that all the directors of our railroads are aware
that their attorneys defeat accident claims
IN. deliberately Turing the Judges into which
unset lust Verdicts appeal Nor Is II 10 be De
IieIad that city officials personally cOnnive at legal
manpuvres by which municipalities Virtualy ron
honest creditors Yet these things, as will be seen
hereafter. are done almost every day In the name
the law by who officers OF the courts
Conscience is said to be largely the creature OF
custom. but however that may be the average
lawyers conscience is so ruled by Legality that II
frequently approves the overTUnE OF the law
Some years ago in Boston burglar named Rec
ord suspected of gaining access to the houses
h.. r,bbed Fv means Of duplicate keys but FOR a
long time he successfully evaded the police. Finally
he was apprehended in the very act OF removing
a key careIessy left in front door, and, being ar
rested. was duly indicted for larceny. benjamin
Butler defended him. and pleaded that a key was
part Of 4 door. door part Of a house and a house
for larceny. which covered the stealing OF personal
propcrtynot real estate This plea actually aValled
and the prisoner discharged.
I'm New York Henry l.. Clinton a well known
criminal lawyer. successfully defended a brutal
murderer named Shay by discovering n clerical
error in the Indictment. This paper. instead of
citing that Shay with a certain knife stabbed his
victim read "a certain kuIt" did stab etc. which
the lawyer insisted indictment OF the knife
rather than OF Shay. and the culprt went free
These are few Of the innunerabe cases IN the
books where criminal lawyers have insisted upon
the letter ~ the law at the expense of its spirit.
But :" suppose that tn" average "IViI practitioner
entertdus any great sCrupes against enforcing the
law regardless of justice is not justified by the
facts.
For instance no LAWYER Of good standing would
hesitate invoke the statute OF limitations
against ist claim II II was outlaJyed t,y as little
hour. The fact that the debtor is taking
scoundrcilv advantage Of the law 10 avoid The pay
meut of an honest due would not sway the prac-
tiCal attorney hairs breadth. He might shtug
his shoulders and say hc wouldn't do # himself.
but he would feel moral responsibility about
presenting the defence professionally ON the CON
UHT}, II the meaning "t the statute Had 10 be
stretched little 10 cover and bar the claim IL
question most attorneys would contend for the
necessary Interpretation with zeal unahated by
questions Of conscience.
The same is true OF the plea of infancy. which
has been cheerfully aEd successfully interposed on
behalf Of an uuscrupulous debtor aged % years
II months and 364 days. There may be some slight
prejudice in the better element Of the profession
against playing the baby act as 1t Is called,
but reputable lawyers frequently rise superior to
the prejudice. with disastrous results To creditors
whose only fault has beer their failure 10 examine
the baptsmal record OF 4 morally responsible
young customer
me statute OF frauds. which requires certain
transactions 20 be In writing is another stumbling
block o incautious honesty. and il is frequently
nterposed to defeat contract made in entire good
faith which has proved unproftable TO one the
other of the parties A lawyer would not only be
Justfied by the ethics OF his profession in helping
the loser wriggla of his obligation by plead
ing this morally doubtful but legally sound de
fence, but he would be considered too particular
for practical work II he hesitated to take such =
case Yet the bar would be highly indignant were
1t accused of promoting wrongdoing by its attitude
In such matters
These all statutory dcfeuCes. sanctioned by
the law and enacted for the greatest good of the
greatest number. and the answer OF the profession
IS that lawyers must apply the law as they find 1t
and not they might like II TO be for particular
persons or special instances. AS officers of the
court. they take the position that they more
responsible than the judges for the hardships which
general laws work in exceptional cases.
But how about the distortions by which inge
nuity and cunning defeat the plain purpose of the
law" was asked of lawyer who offered this more
less plausible for the frequent snscar-
riages of justice.
''Oh. there's no talking about things which
can't be proved the somewhat naIve reply.
If such things were talked about, however,
they might be dsapproved-a consummation de-
voutly 10 be hoped for by lawyers who have the
best interests their profession at heart. to
nothing OF the honest htigants who are daily being
entangIed in the techncalities of the trade
Assuming that lawyers not responsible for
the harsh working OF general legislation, there
remains an almost infinite variety of legal de-
feats which not. say the least quite auto
matte For instance. there IS provision in the
New York City Charter which requires persons
having claims against the city to present them to
the Controller before bringing suit. This law is
familiar TO most counsel. and il is generally COM
piled with. But 1t sometimes happens that an at