ATTORNEY AT LAW.
1. A lawyer is one who, by profession, transacts legal business for others, who, in this relation, are called clients. A lawyer is either an attorney or councillor, or both. The part of legal business, belonging peculiarly to the attorney, consists in preparing the details of the pleadings and the briefs for the use of the councillor, whose especial province it is to make the argument before the court. When the lawyer prepares his own case and makes the argument, as he generally does, he acts in the capacity of both attorney and councillor. In the court of chancery the lawyer is denominated solicitor, and in the admiralty court, proctor. Before a person is permitted to practise law in our courts, he is required to pass through a regular course of study, and afterwards undergo an examination before persons learned in the law.
2. This profession has its foundation in the numerous and complicated laws which have been adopted by men, to govern their intercourse with each other. These laws, as they exist in our country, may be divided into constitutional and municipal. Constitutional law is that by which the government of the United States, and those of the different states, have been established, and by which they are governed in their action. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land.
3. Municipal law embraces those rules of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power of the state, or of the United States; and is composed of statute and common law. Statute law is the express will of the legislative part of the government, rendered authentic by certain forms and ceremonies prescribed by the Constitution.
4. Common law is a system of rules and usages, which have been applied in particular cases of litigation. It originated in the dictates of natural justice, and cultivated reason, and is found more particularly in the reports of the decisions of the courts of justice. The common law is employed in cases which positive enactments do not reach, and in construing and applying positive enactments. The common law of England has been adopted by every state in the Union, except Louisiana.
5. The Constitution of the United States, and those of the several states, provides for three departments in their respective governments, viz., the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. It is the chief province of the first to enact laws, and of the second and third to see that they are duly executed.
6. The judicial power of the United States is vested in one supreme court and two inferior courts. The Supreme Court is now composed of seven justices who commence their session in the Capitol, at Washington, on the second Monday in January. The two inferior courts are the District and Circuit Courts. In the first of these presides a single judge; in the second, one of the justices of the Supreme Court, and the district judge.
7. The judiciary of the United States takes cognisance of all cases which arise under the Constitution, laws, and treaties, of the United States, and likewise of those cases arising under the law of nations. It also embraces all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, as well as those controversies to which the government of the United States is a party, the controversies between two states, between a state and citizens of another state, between citizens of different states, and between a state or citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.
8. The judicial systems of all the states correspond, in many respects, with each other. In all, the office of justice of the peace is similar. To these magistrates, the general police of the counties is chiefly committed, as they have authority to cause criminals, and other disturbers of the peace, to be arrested; and, if the offence is small, to fix the penalty; but, if the offence is too great to be brought within their jurisdiction, they commit the offenders to prison, to be reserved for trial before a higher tribunal.
9. In many of the states, the common magistrates of the county, or a select number of them, form a court, called County Sessions, which has a comprehensive jurisdiction in matters of police, and in regulating the affairs of the county; such as building courthouses, assessing county taxes, opening roads, and licensing taverns.
10. In Virginia, the County Sessions is an important court. Its jurisdiction extends to many criminal cases, and to those of a civil nature involving the amount of $300. Although a great amount of business passes through these courts, the justices discharge all their duties without compensation. In most of the states, the common magistrates, in their individual or collective capacity, have jurisdiction over civil cases, varying in their greatest amount from thirteen to one hundred dollars, a right of appeal being reserved to a higher court.
11. No definite qualifications are required by law or usage for practising in the magistrates' courts, accordingly, there are many persons who plead causes here, who do not properly belong to the profession of law; these are called pettifoggers, and the practice itself, by whomsoever performed, is called pettifogging. Lawyers of inferior abilities and acquirements are, also, frequently termed pettifoggers.
12. In all the states, a class of county courts is established, denominated Courts of Common Pleas, County Courts, District or Circuit Courts, which have original jurisdiction of civil actions at law, or indictments for crimes. Over these are established the Superior or Supreme Courts, or Courts of Error and Appeal, to which appeals are admitted from the inferior courts.
13. Civil cases are frequently decided on principles of equity; and, in some states, courts of chancery are established for this purpose. But, in most of the states, there are no decisions of this kind; or the same courts act as courts of law and equity, as is the case with the courts of the United States.
14. There are several other courts that might be mentioned; but enough has been said of these institutions, to give an idea of the extensive range of the profession of the law. It may be well to remark here, that few lawyers aspire to the privilege of practising in the supreme courts; since, to be successful there it would require not only great abilities, but more extensive reading than the profession generally are willing to encounter.
15. When a client has stated his case in detail to his attorney, it is the province of the latter to decide upon the course most proper to be pursued in regard to it. If the client is the plaintiff, and litigation is determined upon, the attorney decides upon the court in which the case should be brought forward, and also upon the manner in which it should be conducted.
16. The suit having been brought, say into the County Court, it is tried according to law. If it involves facts or damages, it is canvassed before a jury of twelve men, who are bound by oath or affirmation to bring in their verdict according to the evidence presented by both parties. It is the business of the lawyers, each for his own client, to sum up the evidence which may have been adduced, and to present the whole in a light as favorable to his own side of the question as possible.
17. When the case involves points of law which must needs be understood by the jury, to enable them to make a correct decision, the advocates of the parties present their views with regard to them; but, if these happen to be wrong, the judge, in his charge to the jury, rectifies the mistake or misrepresentation. The case having been decided, each party is bound to submit to the decision, or appeal, if permitted by law, to a higher tribunal.
18. Causes to be determined on legal principles only, are brought before the judge or judges for adjudication. In such cases, the advocates present the statute or common law supposed to be applicable, and then reports of similar cases, which may have been formerly decided in the same or similar courts. These reports are the exponents of the common law of the case, and are supposed, in most instances, to furnish data for correct decisions.
10. Besides the management of causes in public courts, the lawyer has a great mass of business of a private nature; such as drawing wills, indentures, deeds, and mortgages. He is consulted in a great variety of cases of a legal nature, where litigation is not immediately concerned, and especially in regard to the validity of titles to real estate; and the many impositions to which the community is liable from defective titles, render the information which he is able to afford on this subject, extremely valuable.
20. In the preceding account of this profession, it is easy to perceive that it is one of great utility and responsibility. It is to the attorney, that the oppressed repair for redress against the oppressor; and to him, the orphan and friendless look, to aid them in obtaining or maintaining their rights. To this profession, also, as much as to any other, the American people may confidently look for the maintenance of correct political principles.
