Evening star., 1939-11-15
D. T.. Bar Authorizes
Special Meeting on
Family Cases
Asks Court Of Appeals
To Relax Rigid
Education Standards

iZation of its Setup, the Bar AsSo-
citation of the District of Columbia
today was on record as favoring
special meeting next month to in
vestigate domestic relations cases,
and possibly a new agency in Dis
trict Court; asked the United States
Court of Appeals to relax its rigid
educational standards, prerequisite
to practice before it, and urged re-
tention of the present District Board
Of Tax Appeals.
Meeting last night at the May
flower Hotel, under the presidency of
Seton Darr, the association adopted
new by-laws whereby one director
will be zchosen annually from the
junior bar group, to give more ade-
Quate representation on the govern
ing body to younger members of the
legal profession; officers and some
three directors will be, chosen in
January, to hold Office until June,
1941, when elections will be held
annually thereafter in June, and
sections, similar to those prevailing
In the American Bar Association,
will be established so that lawyers
may serve better in fields of law in
which they are personally interested.
The association, by overwhelming
vote, went on record as favoring the
amendments to the bylaws pre-
sented to the meeting last month.
At last nights session they were
read by the associations secretary,
Wilbur L. Gray, and voice vote
carried them as unit. Officials
explained that the reason for the
shift from January to June for the
annual election is to enable legiSla-
ton to be prepared for submission
to an incoming Congress. The Off
GERS and three directors, chosen in
January, will serve for year and
a half.
Nominating Committee Named.
Selected as Nominating Commit
tee to pick candidates for the various
Offices and the vacant directorships
were Walter NJ Bastian, Jerome F.
Barnard, Herbert M. Bingham,
George E. Mcneil, who is an assist
ant United States attorney; Joseph
c. McGarraghy, Edmund M. Toland
and George D. Horning, jr.
H. Winship Wheatley, as chairman
of a special committee studying the
domestic relations problem. follow
ing the recent address before the
association by Justice James M.
Proctor of District Court urging
remedial action, suggested the spe-
cial meeting in December. Mr..
Wheatley told of the committees
meetings with Justice Proctor and
quoted the jurist as saying that the
domestics relations problem is "the
most important matter that con-
fronts the courts here in the admin
tstration of justice"
Establishing of a bureau of COM
mission under District Court similar
to the assignment commissioner S
Office or the register of wills, which
could investigate the custody of chill
dren and alimony payments, was
suggested to the committee by JUS
tice Proctor. Such an impartial
agency investigation would give bet
ter opportunity for a just decision
as to the custody of children and
the payment of alimony, declared
Mr. Wheatley, as well as study of
possible reconstruction of the home.
Mr. Wheatley declared that there
is strong minority that feels that
so far as matrimonial cases are
concerned, they must be handled by
the court and this is social problem
that cannot be solved. This class OF
cases, said he, has come to be known
as those in which fraud is practiced
and the junior bar section might be
willing, as matter of public policy,
to take over the defense of some of
these cases from the standpoint of
the State rather than the interest
of the litigant.
Sees Action for Community.
at Is possible, if the association
will take firm stand, Congress may
take action-not for our benefit and
not for our pocketbooks, but for the
good of the community" said Mr..
Wheatley.
Jean M. Boardman, represented as
voicing the viewpoint of the minority
on the committee, told the associa-
ton that this is the third time that
this plan has cropped up in seven
wears and the organization has never
taken final action. Concerning an
agency such as has been suggested,
Mr.. Boardman called attention to
the Friend of the Court in Detroit,
Mich, handling domestic relations
cases, and said that group costs
$35OOO0 annually and there are 40
assistants engaged in the work, He
declared that such agencies should
be investigated by persons on both
sides of the question.
Presenting the majority report of
the Committee on Legal Education
and Admission Requirements. which
was adopted, were Guilford S. JAM
eson, chairman; William E. Rich
ardson and Mr.. Mcneil. Only a
scattering of mays" greeted the
vote, the association overwhelmingly
adopting a resolution of the COM
mittee whereby the association rec
ommends that rule 7l2 of the United
States Court of Appeals be rescinded
and that a committee is to be ap-
pointed to confer with the chief JUS
tices of the appellate tribunal and
of District Court with a view to
securing an agreement between
these courts as to which shall in
the future prescribe the qualifica-
tions for admission to practice in
the District of Columbia, or an
agreement between said courts upon
rule satisfactory to both courts
that will apply equally to each"
Requires Higher Education.
Rule 7la of the appellate tribunal
provides that after July /, 1914,
applicants for practice before it,
except those attorneys in good
standing in the Supreme Court, must
have had two full years of study in
a college or university fully accred-
tied by the official accrediting agency,
or the equivalent, as tested by an