Court Opinion

ID: 9761188
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:34:01.531094+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:20.830712
License: Public Domain

SEILER, Judge
(concurring in result).
I concur with the result reached in this case, but I would phrase the final paragraph of the opinion in terms so that it is clear this court and the trial courts can continue, when necessary, to require lawyers to serve as officers of the court, including representation of indigents in criminal cases. Courts cannot operate without *574lawyers. As Judge Albert Ridge put it years ago (Journal of the Missouri Bar, August, 1950), the operation of the courts is really done by “Judge and Company”. The judge and the lawyers together are necessary for the courts to function. The lawyers cannot escape being officers of the court and cannot escape a certain amount of pro bono publico work, which inevitably go with the special and exclusive privilege of being allowed to represent others in the court. Despite the increasing (and I think regrettable) trend toward commercialization of the law profession,1 these obligations remain a part of the practice of law and I believe thoughtful lawyers would not want it otherwise.
It is impossible at this writing'to foresee all the contingencies which may arise in the representation of indigents in criminal cases after September 1, 1972. There are certain to be instances, however, where the courts find it necessary to appoint counsel to represent an indigent, without compensation for time spent or reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. I do not take the opinion in today’s case to mean the courts are surrendering their power to require a lawyer to perform his obligation as an officer of the court, even if it means doing so without financial reward or reimbursement. It would be a sad day for the courts and the profession if we get to the point where there is no obligation for a lawyer to serve as an officer of the court unless he is first assured of a fee.

. For example, lawyers used to advance to become partners in a law firm. Now they become shareholders and members of the board of directors.