Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-05-19
SHYSTERING IN THE COURTS.

courts Of Iowa and practically every
| contingent fee cases and shyster lawyer
practices. This is becoming so fragrant
| that bar associations are taking 1t up
| and discussing it with q view to secur-
which will stop this enormous Dram OF
expense to the public and clear the
legal fraternity of the odium winch -
attached to it as a result of the ne1arl-
cus practices of some of their more
disreputable members
The great majority Of the legal ira
ternity are men of the highest charac-
| ter and the most patriotic instincts ana
| their practices are above question. But
lust as all armies have their camp t'l-
| lowers, so all professions have their
scavengers Writing on this subject
short time before he was elevated 10
the supreme court bench Justice
Hughes commented as follows:
Another subject which demands the
most careful attention of students OF
our Jurisprudence is that relating 70
| compensation for personal injuries We
are permitting a vast waste and sys-
telna thing injustice thru the 1orIns OF
law. Our courts are closged with suits
| based upon claims OF negligence. 1t
has been estimated that these cases
require for their disposition not less
! than one-half OF the judicial machlnerE
which. at great cost. has en- provided
! in the city of New York for the trial OF
! civil suits, and III other parts OF the
country the situation Is not dissimilar
! A very large number Of these negH-
gence cases are prosecuted upon
basis which gives the attorneys a high
| percentage of the recoveries.'
Not only does this system amount to
al injustice 70 the public which pays
/ the cost of maintaining the courts. but
Justice Hughes says further: Inls Is
| apart from the consideration u tiie
frauds and perjuries, the solicitation
and the malpractice which, unhapplly,
the system fosters"
/ Justice Hughes recommends re-
casting Of the laws i'll SUCH manner as
to cure these abuses,
f. Railroad corporations are obliged to
maintain large legal departments to
take care Of this class Of business.
There are cities in Iowa where the sa-
looms are compelled to pay monthly
their bringing damage suits in which
even tho no judgments were obtained
the cost Of defense would be greater
than the purchase Of immunity.
Association says with reference to con-
| tingent fee cases
| Solicitation popularity called am
/ pulance chasing 50 long as an in
tending ltgant was left free, without
! solicitation, t. choose his own lawyer,
! no abuses arose out of the legalization
! Of the contingent fee, but soon the Gus
tom OF solicitation began. There are
certain attorneys who felt no restraint
| of professional tradition. There grew
up among them the habit Of employing
men, Who in England are called touts.
and in this state have come to be
known as "anrb ulance chasers,' and
| who seek out persons who have been
injured and recommend their employ
ment, to pay all expenses. SO long as
, there is no such offer. there is no Of
Tense against the law. 1t must be ad-
nitted that except for this custom
many poor man might have failed to
get justice. But the evil Of such sys-
tematic stirring up of litigation now
far outWeighs the good. Ii not only
degrades the lawyer himself, but by
giving him an unfair advantage over
his brethren, tempts them to follow MS
pernicious example. The custom Of so
ilicitaton. at first confined TO accident
cases, has spread to other torts. Take
for example libel. The columns Of
news papers are now daily scanned with
interested eyes of lawyers, to detect
Ibelous utterances Having found them
rhs libeees are then informed of the
libels and induced to sue on the pros
pect of half the recovery and all eX-
penses paid. Thus It has become in
creasingly difficult for a young lawyer
to acquire clientage unless he. also
INDUCES in solicitation The demorali-
zation Of the profession is bad enough,
but what will become of the commun-
ity if it licenses 10000 men TO roam
thru the state, hunting for scandals.
injuries, troubles Of all kinds, and stir
ring up strife.
For the first two or three decades af-
ter the Equalization Of the contingent
e, fee, percentages were moderate, Is per
cent or 20 per cent of the recovery was
considered reasonable. These have
grown until 40 per cent Is common, 50
per cent is not unusual, and so per cent
has heen known to have been charged.
Bringing suits devoid of merit for
the purpose Of enforcing small settle
ments, under penalty of greater ex-
pense for defense. This has now be-
come notorious among use of the pro-
fession. It is often confessed in private
by one lawyer to another. Our calen-
dars are crowded with cases which are
absolutely devoid Of m crit, begun for
no other purpose than to obtain a small
settlement, induced because the de-
PENDANT fears that if the case goes
otTiaI it may be supported by perjury
and result in an adverse verdict =
These abuses are fragrant and they
have been long continued. Their exist
ence is recognized and deplored by the
best men In the legal profession IN the
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