The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14


 preme court was changed.
 That both sides of this practice are atcively engaged in fight against each other from the moment a personal in jury case occurs until It Is settled. either through a claim agent of the defendant, and the machinery under him or working in concert with him, or until a runner or striker obtains the advantage of g. written contract for a particular firm and the case is securely lodged in court. The contest in the latter instance in court develops the many difficulties to be over come by this association in improving the conditions in and about the admin istration of justice in the courts of Jeff ferson county.
 ''The first difficulty after the suit is filed which the plaintiffs attorney eon- fronts is to prevent q settlement. of the case without consultation. with him. At the trial there appears a so-called jury selector' of the defendant, who sits by the defendants attorney in the selection of the jury fortified with such intimate knowledge of the jury list acquired dur ing years of service, that the plaintiff has little chance of anything save a com promise verdict or a mistrial.
 "To illustrate the alleged evil of the jury selector, four or five persons in Birmingham making this spe- eial business 1t was stated that on one occasion in an import ant case In which the plaintiff had first secured a large judgment, on appeal the case being reversed, upon the second trial a very small verdict was rendered. Soon after the rendition thereof one of the so-called jury se- lectors' was seen in the corridor of the courthouse to throw his arms around the foreman of the Jury with the remark, in effect. that This will satisfy them for while
 That before a case reaches the court there is diligent effort upon the part of these two contesting forces to first secure the appointment of adminis- trators where number have been in- jured in one accident. If an admin istrator is secured by the runner the contest proceeds in court If obtained through persons acting under or in concert with a claim agent the cases arising by such accident are generally settled for a comparatively nominal sum.
 ''That in this general contest some of the corporations use certain hos pitals in furthering their opportunities of settling damage suits before run ner' is a ble to secure them.
 That sometimes runners meet each other in conflict, each trying to get the damage case, while the defendant corporation throws every obstacle pos sib!e in their way.
 "The above narrated statements sub mitted to the committee afford a gen. eral but imperfect conception of the task of the State Bar association in It's duty to better the prevailing con ditions in this practice, which appears to be sapping the moral and ethical spirit of the profession.
 Some other examples reflecting the situation will be briefly referred to in the course Of this report
 "The committee has classified the so- licitation of personal injury litigation into three forms. First, that by the law yer himself, usually a young man, who runs for the case, and, if he feels in- competent to manage it, as he generally is he takes it to an older lawyer to be tried. Second, the adjusting or soliciting agent, not a lawyer, who secures the case under oral or written contract with power to adjust or employ lawyer, and who sells the case to the lawyer who will make terms with him And, third, the soliciting agent who Is employed by or represents some one particular firm of lawyers, and who seeks contracts for that firm among his other duties of pre- pairing the cases for trial, and this class Is predominant.
 'arhe first type of solicitor. the young
 
 self, does not offend the statute law, however, reprehensible the practice. But he rarely confines himself within legal bounds. one of the leading lawyers found such young man soliciting cases with the understanding that he was to take them to this older lawyer It is thus ev- anywhere evident that the universally recognized methods of obtaining prac' tice reduce the profession to a trade.
 ssrDbn of Gnlipitaf fbai by a self called 'adjuster, or runner, who secures the case and takes it to the lawyer who will divide his fee, is not SC common. Unless he is a young lawyer who does not break the law in so doing but whose conduct is ethically offensive such practice is confined largely to ne groes, to a great extent, indeed, to negro preachers; and the cases are therefore largely minor cases. But one prominent lawyer tells us that white preachers ir charge of not unimportant churches have sometimes enjoyed the profits of such vicious trades
 But the great majority of solicita- tions, the branch requiring our pro found consideration and analysis. are those made by runners employed by well known firms, whose business 1t is to obtain the case, and the evidence bearing upon it, and corral the wit nesses for the trial. This man works upon a monthly salary for some par ticular firm of lawyers (although some of them work on percentages) and takes contracts in the name of those lawyers only. One active and promi- nent lawyer tells us that this solici- tation is almost universal among the personal injury lawyers; and. while your committee by no means declares the case thus to be, nevertheless it Is done to such an alarming extent that it may be assumed to be the rule
 Now as to the causes which give rise to such a condition; undoubtedly the large remuneration from successful personal injury practice has much, if not most. to do with it. But your com mittee has been amazed to learn of the unfair practices brought home to some of the leading corporations which are of equal gravity as the offenses as scribed to the damage suit lawyer and his runner
 "1n one case a young man of 25 with a family having suffered a broken back by fall. rendering him a help less invalid for life, was misled by the so-called surgeon to believe his hip only was broken and that his injury was temporary; and so, while in the hospital he accepted as an &C., quittance greatly inadequate sum.
 Tn another instance a family of for eigners were struck in crossing a track and several of them killed. They were taken charge of by the company's agents without the intervention of a lawyer and the death claims were settled at small amounts.
 Special hospitals are controlled by cer- tain corporations. and even when injured occupants write letters asking special lawyers to come to them to discuss their suits the lawyers are not permitted by the docetors in charge to discuss the .Af Ia