Omaha daily bee., 1908-07-12

NNhN NNNAN ~ ~ 80 ~ 1900 49,
tions will be filed. Lawyers who would
take a case of this kind for a contingent
fee will think twice before they will be-
come personally liable for court costs. so
a larger number Of damage suits are
compromised each year.
P~ay-as-You-Go Divorces.
There is one form Of litigation which
shows little diminution and that is the
divorce case. The rule that fees must
he paid before divorce DEGREES arc en-
tered is not a new one. Even in the old
fee days the clerk realized that his
chance Of getting returns from such cases
were slight If litigants secured the re-
lief they desired before they paid for
II, so the rule of cash before decree was
in vogue, while other forms of litigation
came almost without cost. For this rea-
son the man or woman who desires to
sever marital relations usually comes
into court with enough cash to pay costs.
and the annual grind of the courts
sundering family ties goes on without
ceasing. But divorce cases are not pro-
ductive OF much revenue. While no ex-
act figures are at hand, II is estimated
that the court costs in divorce cases will
average about $3.50. or course this cost
is largely increased where dispositions
are taken. but in many default divorce
cases the costs will not be over IS.
Even under the rule established a short
time ago requiring plaintiffs to deposit s.
when a petition was filed and defendants
to pay S2O before they could make a films
1t was the rule of the clerk to record orders
OF the court made in the trial Of cases re-
CARELESS Of the condition of the fund In the
case. Since the recent supreme court de-
cision this rule has been changed. Now no
opNrVs v,,.Iz 49,. d, 4,1-. L.. a .g-gT 800 800
on the journal of the court nor upon any
docket until there is funds on deposit in
such case sufficient to pay the cost of
making the record, and at the present time
an average of at least one court order a
day is being held up in the office await
ing the payment of fees,
No Judgments without Fees.
In this connection there may come some
nice points Of law, for the clerk, without
danger of having to pay the fees not paid
by litigants, cannot enter a judgment in a
case. The judgment debtor may be selling
real estate and by reason of the failure
of the judgment creditor to pay the re-
quired fees the judgment is not recorded,
although rendered by the Judge, and II may
be that a form of judgment has been signed
by him. In making up an abstract of title
no judgment appears against the holder of
the title to the land and the abstractor SO
c~ertifies. After the certificate has -becn
made and the sale the judg-
ment creditor pays sufficient money into
court to cover the cost of entering the
judgment. Must that judgment be entered
as Of the day it was signed by the Judge?
Does It become binding from the day the
order was made or from the day the iudg-
ment creditor paid the costs, and what will
be the result Of the entry of the delayed
judgment upon the title acquired by a
stranger to the action?
These are some of the questions ard there
may be others growing out of the new
rule laid down by the supreme court be-
fore that rule Is rendered unnecessary by
legislative action.
To show a comparison between the
work under the old rule and the new,
one of the officials who has been con-
nected with the courts for twenty years
says that under the administration of
Frank +. Moores it was not unusual TO
have 1900 cases filed at one term Of
court. AS there are three regular terms
OF court a year, this would be a matter
OF $500 cases. In the six months of the
present year there has been filed APP
~proximately 700 cases, which would make
for the whole year about what was filed
during one term under the old rule. when
everybody went into court and the clerk
looked out for the fees as best he could.
But in that day, while the earnings
were large and the collections were suf-
ficient to make the office one of the best
in the state, it Is probable that the clerk
at no time received more than half Of
the fees that he earned, the others being
due him from persons who would not
pay and who could not be forced to pay.
While the earnings are smaller now, the
difference between the earnings and the
receipts is practically nothing and the
county receives all OF the returns above
the amount required to pay the expenses
Of the office.
Importance of Cost Clerk.
At the present time, when the clerk Is
held accountable for all of the fees
earned, the accounting system of the
office is one of the most important in
the matter of detail. No case must get
beyond a point where the cash on hand
will meet all obligations to the county.
At no time is 1t possible TO tell how many
cases are actually before the courts.
With 375 cases on a docket the present
docket is numbered 102, which means
that In addition TO the cases tried before
the numbered dockets were adopted there
have been approximately $3.50 cases
started, and a large number of these are
liable to consideration on various sorts OF
motions at any time, one case tried as
early as 1890 recently coming up for an
order TO correct the record. With all OF
these cases in this condition It IL neces.
sary that the cost clerk be able to tell
just the condition OF the funds in any
case when an order is presented for en-.
try. This requires a considerable amount
Of work, which. under another system
of paying fees and costs, would be un
necessary; and in all walks Of life un.
necessary labor is not only a mistake
but a crime against nature.
Persons who have given the subject
consideration In its various phases hav,
, come to believe that a flat fee in law
= suits might be of advantage not only L
| litigants, but to the taxpayers from IN,
l standpoint Of a reduction of expenses
3 This subject is still under consideration
and 1t is possible that II viii be pre-
scented to the Legislature at its next SEES
sion.
whole state IL Interested.
} Not only is Douglas county inter
ested in this matter, not only Is tn,
district clerk interested, but every Off
Ger earning a fee in every county of tn,
state is directly interested, as the recen