Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-04
ENGLISH LAWYERS FUTURE
Rufus Isaacs from First Place at the
Bar May Become Lord
Chancellor.

LONDON, Oct, S.-(speciaD-so rapid
and steady has been the rise in recent
years of Rufus Isaacs, X. c., M. p, that
II is no said in we'll informed circles
that he is in receipt of the largest income
! in the history of the English bar. Ger
tainly he is one Of the ablest and at the
same time the hardest worker of the brill
liant councils Of the day and being a
member Of Parliament and a favor of the
powers-that-be in politics 1t is confidently
predicted that he will some day, in not very
distant future, become Lord Chancellor of
England, the first Jew to occupy that
exalted position.
Americans will perhaps remember that
It was Isaacs who successfully prosecuted
Whitaker Wright, the greatest "fren-
zied finance" expert that ever operated
In England, who fled to the United States
when his variods ~flotations began to
collapse and after a vain attempt to resist
extradition, threw up the sponge and re-
turned to London to stand his trial.
The burly financier had so many peers
and younger sons of eminent families
involved with him that he was sure of
acquittal and it was the unruffled ~incisive
cross-examination of Rufus Isaacs that
broke down his defense and sealed his
uOOIlL Anu II was NlIulu a lew lSel VI
Isaacs that Wright drank poison and
died from it's effect rather than spend
the comparatively short term to which
he had been sentenced in prison.
In the Wright trial Isaac showed won
derful mastery of the intricate figures
and that same mastery has always been
one OF the outstanding features of his
mental makeup. 1t has made him al
most indispensable to the large business
houses of England in case of litigation
and 1t is seldom that any important case
comes to trial in these days that the bril-
liant Jewish advocate is not engaged.
He is in such great demand that solicitors,
with enormous retaining fees in their
hands, are constantly turned away from
his office.
To keep pace with his practice Isaacs
gets UP at five O'Clock In the morning
and perusue his briefs for the day. He
is blest with an extraordinary memory
and although he may be engaged in half
a-dozen different cases II the same time
he seldom, If ever, makes use of notes,
trusting confidently to his memory for
figures, dates, names and facts.
But large as is his practice Isaacs finds
time to attend to his Parliamentary duties
also and he misses few sessions of the
@AON|S ~ Il - al lit speaker,
at times even rising to b~rilliancy and is
In demand as an orator especially in and
about Reading, where his contituency is
located.
Undoubtedly one of the most interesting
cases in which Fufus Isaacs ever ap-
peared was the recent trial of Bob Sieyer,
proprietor of The Winning Post" and a
popular English racing man, who was ac-
cused of blackmail by j. b. Joel, a nephew
of the late Barney Barnato and a million
aire many times over. Sleyer was freed
after a mastery summing up by Isaacs
who was subsequently made a popular
hero by the man in the street.
Isaacs was born in 1860 in the city OF
London, the son of a well-to-do merchant
He was educated at Brussels, Hanover
and the University College School, in Lon.
don, and was about to enter Cambridge al
the express wish of his parents when he
ran away to sea. A single trip to Rio d,
J~aneiro, however, cured him of his wander.
lust and he came back to London and toinet
the Stock Exchange. Meanwhile he spenr
his evenings in studying for the law ant
in 1887 was called to the bar in the Mlddl,
Temple. Eleven years later he took sill
and Immediately Jumped to the front rank,
OF his associates. Today he lives in 6
beautiful house In PARK Lane, London,
Millionalres' Row, and can afford to turf
up his nose at anything less than $40. OO
In the way of a retainer and $1,000 as 2
daily "refresher."