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.