Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-13
Changes in the Legal Profession
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

The multiplicity of statutes, Federal
and State, which modern Legislatures
have created has resulted in a degree
OF specialization which Is threatening
the very existence of the old fashioned
discriminating lawyer wha was faced
WIN the necessity of. meeting any
emergency, not only with q fund of
legal lore. but with acumen.
The civil lawyer has divided his prac-
tlce INTO so many fields that the man
VINO can handle a traction company
claim case knows practically nothing
OF the equities in a mining dispute. In
the criminal field there are specialists
OF all kinds and they do, indeed, often
show flashes Of shrewdness. but usually
they are based on technicalities hay
ing, In themselves, only the merit Of
technical thickness.
The great broad, bold, sweeping
strokes of the old-time lawyer rarely
are heard OF any more. The lone
tighter in the law courts is a rare
specimen. When a man gets in trou-
BILE these days he is as likely as not
10 De represented notsby known. re-
Spected and sometimes feared figure,
but by some such firm as Nash. Nash,
Nash, Nash, Observation-Disclosures g. Nash
Here in the Capital of the United
There are some few in Congress and
once in a while they get to talking
over old times and tell an epic. Then,
too, there is the quite numerous COM
munity Of former Congressman who
nave tasted the social and professional
life of the National Capital and set
tied down to practice in Washington.
good many are associated with law
firms and handle the highly specialized
type OF case. Many do a little lob
Dying on the side in dignified way
They belong to an older school and,
II they did not themselves occupy out
standing positions at the bar in their
earlier days, they remember the giants
who did. Those giants not infrequently
were men who often were in their cups,
men who played high, men who had
never attended a law school. but had
read law in the Offices of still earlier
lights. They usually were addressed
as Judge" This sometimes meant
that the individual had served on the
bench, but not always. In those days
when a lawyer had reached a certain
age. a certain dignity and a certain
reputation at the bar inevitably he
slipped into sort of imaginary judge
ship. Perhaps it was because he had a
way OF presiding over life in general.
Classic Tales.
OF such men one was always hearing
stories in sharp contrast to the tales
OF law fees Of today. Now the law
library gossip runs to the enormous fee
that so-andso got or some fabulous re-
tainers being paid some firm. A lot
OF the good stories Of the older days
were about the lawyers who repre-
sented clients for nothing, if they were
convinced that the interests of justice
required such public service. That sort
OF thing is regarded as almost unethical
today
Take the story Of Judge Black. the
hard drinking lawyer of the Middle
West who had an eye for horse, a
hand for poker, a flowing compliment
for lady and a burst of oratory for
the Fourth OF July. There was a lad
in the bank who was engaged 10 his
daughter. He was a good lad, and the
judge was favorable to his suit. He
seemed to be hard-working enough and
steady, although they did say he played
heavily. Well. nearly everybody played
heavily in these days
But one sultry afternoon the boy ran
across the street from the bank and
asked to talk with the Judge in pri-
vate. BY that time he had worked up
to a position of such responsibility that
he had free run Of the bank and could
handle money as matter of course
The boy confessed TO the judge that
he had lost lot of money gambling
It was the old story of borrowing off
the ledger from the bank in the GER