PLAN No. 785. A GOOD WAY TO START THE PRACTICE OF LAW
This attorney was educated in an eastern university, and after completing his course decided to start in a small town in the State of Vermont. This town was a county seat and had some 2,500 inhabitants. The first year he netted more than $2,000. He started in with a partner, and during his twenty-five years of practice always had a partner. He believes this is the best way, as a great deal of law is learned by such association. He says an attorney can obtain a start in a small town much earlier than in a large city. He has an opportunity from the very beginning to show his ability. It is up to the attorney who goes to a small town to make sure that he knows as much about the law as possible, and should devote himself to careful study. His efforts will be noted by the Court and if the Court and the Bar generally of a small community, see that he is in earnest and has the material in him, he will find that he will get good support from all, especially by the judges in his community, as they like to help the young lawyer make a success.
In the large city, he says it is different. If he cannot stand he must fall; nobody takes any particular interest in him. He has no opportunity of displaying the qualifications he possesses. He may live and die in a large city and be a Daniel Webster and nobody know it. He found after this association with the court of this county seat and the supreme court of the state that he obtained a class of business that was the very best, and he found that he knew the law better than his brothers in the city as every lawyer realizes that all the law is not in books, and the association with lawyers of high ability is the best instruction a lawyer can have.
In this little town, all of his cases were in the superior court and he had many cases that were heard in the federal court, and from this practice he derived a good income. He found in the city that most of his fellow attorneys of the same age never had the opportunity of going to the federal court. Most of their practice was in the justice court or police court.
PLAN No. 786. WHY NOT BECOME A PATENT ATTORNEY
I have known this attorney for years, and my acquaintance and conversation with him has enabled me to learn much from the experience that he enjoyed as a patent attorney. It is a profitable field as well as an extremely interesting one.
People generally realize that it is very difficult to get a patent through in the Department of Patents, but usually the examiner has many departments under him, and the various departmental heads go into all kinds of matters which would seem to the average person as unnecessary, and, in some cases, that is really the case. It is here that the patent attorney comes in.
There are people who are patent assistants, which is different from patent attorneys. They advertise and obtain much business. They are not lawyers, are not educated as lawyers and have clerks who work under them who are less qualified than they, but the attorney has a great advantage over these people, for he himself has been trained as an attorney and is familiar with the rulings of the court and has many advantages when it comes to drawing up the petition for the person desiring the patent.
Oftentimes before patent papers reach the examiner the owner becomes discouraged and withdraws, and the examiner is not troubled further.
Another thing is the drawing-up of the petition, which contains a drawing and specifications, claim, etc. The drawing of a patent claim is a science, and is entirely governed by court rules. It is probably the most difficult legal paper to draw that is known.