The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-01-20
Proposed Bill to
Regulate Legal Matters.

Judge sgd L. Carter Of that city is
engaged in the preparation of bill
which he intends to try and get
through the next legislature covering
the subject of admissions to practice
law, disbarment proceedings, and dis
qualification of judges
The Journal has for some time in
tended to call attention to this mat
ter, and we are glad to see that MI
Carter has taken up the question with
a view TO securing new legislation,
! touching the subject
The statutes on disbarment in Flor
ida are sadly in need of revision. The
proceeding has too much red tape
about it, and it places the judge try
| ing the case in rather an embarrass-
| ing position Under the statutes 1t
is made the duty of the circuit judge
| to instruct the state attorney TO enter
! the motion for disbarment, and be-
/ fore doing this he must examine into
! the facts in the case and decide
whether or not there has been a prima
| facie case made against the attorney
charged. The state attorney then en-
tiers the motion for disbarment, and
the matter comes back to the judge
for trial, without jury, and he passes
| in final judgment on practically the
same facts that were in the first in
| stance presented to him.
This matter should be regulated so
| that the state attorney could make
the complaint of his own motion, and
we do not think it would be a bad
| idea if the motion could be entered
/ by any other member of the bar.
There are numerous grounds upon
| which an attorney can be disbarred
| in this state, but the statute is pTac-
tically a dead letter. 1t would be bet
| ter if some of these grounds we're
omitted and the others more rigidly
enforced. If there is one profession
that deserves to be safeguarded and
kept up to the highest standard it is
| the legal profession.
In the matter of admission to the
bar the law in Florida, as praticed
provides for an oral examination in
open court, and this Is both unfair to
| the candidate and to the examining
committee, and is the rule in but few
states in the union.
Nearly every state now provides
| for these examinations either by the
supreme court, or by a special board,
where every candidate for admission
to the profession stands on an equal
footing, and has to undergo the same
examination.
/ In Florida the severity of these ex-
aminations depends altogether on
where the applicant is examined.
Some judges are more rigid in their
questions than others, and applicants
have been known TO go out of the cir
cult where they intended to practice
in order to get an easier examination
from some other judge.
The examinations as they have been
Judge F. B. Carter are about as strong
as it is possible to make them, and
if all the circuits followed his exam
pie there would be little room to COM
plain. In recent examination of this
nature in Pensacola Judge Carter
gave the applicant a seige of ques-
tons covering about six hours, and
the judge and his committee pretty
well covered the field of the law be-
fore they finished with him
We do not believe it is fair to make
an applicant stanpd an examination
in one circuit that is harder than that
given in another circuit. when the
same license entities the holder to
practice in all the circuits OF the state.
Another thing that should be cor
rected in this connection is the stat
ute that admits graduates OF law
schools in the state to be admitted
| without examination. II a student
successfully completes the law course
in an institution and is not able to
pass the required examination in the
courts he should not be entitled to
practice in the state.
The question of the disqualification
of judges is more difficult PROPOSE
ton to settle, and the matter has
been amended and changed at almost
every session of the legislature. The
present law provides for disqualified
ton in too many cases, and could be
improved on some, but de doubt if
any law could be passed that would
be entirely satisfactory 10 the bar in
this particular. However this may
be, it is certain that Inc statutes re-
lating to the admission of attorneys,
and the disbarment of them can be
improved on, and we hope Judge Car
ter will push this matter when he
gets to Tallahassee
Harvie Jordan was reelected presi-