Evening star., 1932-10-12

| part:
Whatever measure Of success has at
tended the administration now drawing
to close I assure you in all sincerity
belongs to the Executive Committee, the
Standing and Special committees, the
sections, and. above all, to the members
in the ranks. Theirs Is the credit for
what We have achieved. The har-
monious team work of these commit
tees and sections, the activity and CO.
operation of the members and their
enthusiasm and intelligent and self
sacrificing labors have never been sur
passed, possibly never equaled, in the
history OF this association. Certainly no
president before has had support more
loyal or more sympathetic.
With distress I report that the
lawyers Of the land are grievously af-
flicted by this cruel depression. In
common with others, they suffer. No
single spot is free from the plague. But
despite this unprecedented condition
am happy to report that since the ad-
jOurnment Of our last annual conven-
ton the association has recruited more
than 5000 new members, greater
number by far than in any prior year,
so that our membership today has
reached new eminence Of approxi-
mately 10000. I would not have you
think that this has been accomplished
without effort. On the contrary, it was
made possible only by the eager interest
and the jealous activity Of our members.
| I'VE will struggle with the problem
| OF our structure. The American Bar
Association has no organic connections
with any other ASSOC iation Of lawyers.
Our isolation deprives us not merely
of the full membership, but also OF
interest, influence and effort on the
part Of the organized bars cf the coun-
| try. 1t enfeebles thereby the voice
with which we speak. More and more
is this coming to be recognized as
sistent- are the demands for its solu-
tion.
| The layman's indictment of the
bar Is in three counts; and the in
dorsements Of many witnesses appear
upon the bill: the first count charges
that justice and the law are uncer-
tain; the second that the bar is sloth-
full in Kidding the profession of un-
scrupulous members; the third, that
the legal profession does nothing to
improve the administration Of justice.
! The charge that justice and the
/ law are uncertain Is no. without
foundation. though the layman Is prone
| to magnify the seriousness Of this Of
fense. Judgment here is formed in
! the main by the public press. The
, layman should bear IN mind that court
| proceedings featured IN the newspapers
are usually sensational cases-the ex-
ceptional ones which possess EeWs
value. The multitude Of ordinary cases
! which are being daily disposed Of in
our courts OF justice receive SCant no.
| tice in the columns of the press. 1t
| is true that the law Is uncertain; 1t
! will ever be So
1T is the glory Of the common law
that its principles adapt themselves to
| the imperative demands of social
| change. Law must be static, and yet
1t cannot stand still says Dean Pound
Or, as Mr.. Justice Cardozo charmingly
phrased it: The inn that shelters for
the night Is not the journeys end.
| The law, like the traveller, must be
ready for the morrow. 1t must have
| principle of growth The needless
complexity and uncertainty that afflict
our Jurisprudence are. in fact being
| successfully attacked by the American
Law Institute. This great organization,
composed Of the most learned and the
most scholarly lawyers in the land, for
the past nine years has been engaged
+, in the task Of restating the common
| law to the end that the law may be
clarified, simplified. and better adapted
| to modern social needs and conditions.
We await with eagernesS the appear
| ance within the next few weeks Of its
| restatement, now completed, OF the law
Of contracts.
Difficult to Discipline.
"To the laymans second complaint,
that the bar is slothful in ridding the
profession OF INSCRIPTIONS members. it
must be conceded that the legal pro-
focSinr, Includes uhncQ conduct
violates the canonS Of ethics, some who
are recreant to their trusts, some who
are upscrupulous and dishonest, some
who crook the pregnant hinges OF the
knee where thrift may follow fawn-
ing" But these men do not represent
or typify the profession; they diShCnor
it They are. after all. exceptions. As
body. the lawyers of this country TN
queStionably act on high principles Of
honor and integrity, and conscientious
ly and faithfully discharge the duties
they owe their clients.
1T Is difficult for the bar to dis
cipline or disbar. The necessary proof
is often hard. sometimes impossible, to
obtain, though suspicion Of wrOngdoing
be strong as proof of Holy Writ Be-
yond this barrier. more difficult one
still Is the fact that the bars in most
of the states are not self-governlng
bodies. Indifferent to the inherent
power of the courts, the State legiSla-
lures generally have assumed to pre-
scribe by statute the causes OF diSci-
pline and disbarment, as we'll as the
procedure In many of the States these
legislative enactments by their terms
SO circumscribe and restrict the power
of the bar as TO make 1t extremely
difficult, and often impossible. under
them. to disbar or to discipline recall
citrant lawyers. Generally, the lawyer
who foments litigation, the ambulance
chaser who vulture-llke, appears upon
the scene of tragedy while the victim
still writhes in pain. cannot be dis
barred under these statutes Tor these
offenses. Indeed, in some states: II a
LAWYERS offenSe rises to the dignity OF
a felony, the legislature has prescribed
that he shall not be disbarred until
he is first convicted in court OF the
felony with which he IS charged. Lay
men generally do not understand tnls
situation Until the bar is given tne
right to act. it cannot in Justice 9e
censured because 1t does not &C act ,., ~
cannot Justly be condemned Tor !all-
ure to do what it has not been given
the power to do.
"To the layman's third complaint.
namely that the legal profession Goes
nothing to improve the administration
of Justice. we enter emphatic denial, 1or
this count is without foundation. Lay
men in general have, I think, little
conception of the lawyers constant el.
forts to improve the administration OF
Justice. Reference has already been
made to the Herculean task now being
performed by the American Law 1nsti-
tute. Law school faculties and sucn
institutions as the Johns Hopkins IN
stitute of Law and the American JUDI.
cature Society are rendering service OF
incalculable value. The American Bar
Association has, as noted. MEMBER
ship of 10000. among whom are the
foremost lawyers of the country. drawn