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-- AndrewMcCormick - 13 Nov 2009 |
| | In early America, lawyers were unwelcome. The practice was viewed as unnecessary and even evil. The "Body of Liberties" of Massachusets Bay, 1641. Available here: BodyofLiberties, fascinatingly prohibits legal representatives from taking fees in section #26. Similarly, the Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas (1669), Carolinas, article 70 proclaims lawyering for money as "base and vile". |
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> | Character and fitness standards may have been a "showpiece", to borrow Rhode's term, designed to achieve two ends: (1) quell the dislike of lawyers by non-lawyer classes, especially until lawyers became an accepted fixture of American professional culture and (2) to provide some semblance of maintaing Britian's elite solicitor class by attempting to give American lawyers elevated personal status. |
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< | FIND:
J. McMaster? , A History of the Poeple of tThe United States: From the Revolution ot the Civil War (1927) (Rhode pincites 302 for "bloodsuck[ing] legal practices)
H. Lefler, North Carolina Histroy as TOld by COntemporaries (1956) (pincite to 87 for "will eat out the very Bowels of our Commonwealth") |
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< | Friedman argues that "As soon as... society posed problems for which lawyers had an answer..., layers bagan to thrive, despite the hostility.", here. As lawyers became necessarysuch animosity led to developing character and fitness standards, either by the lawyers themselves, in order to improve their image, or as imposed by legislatures. Alternatively, as the profession grew a wish to create entry barriers would be well served by character and fitness standards and professional requirement. Relatedly, between 1800 and 1900 the class of men composing the profession shifted from the "elite" to middle class and business backgrounds (Friedman, linked above), and the elite class may have developed character standards as barriers for entry. However, Rhode's empirical research suggests that were this a motivation, it was an ineffective ploy. |
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> | J. McMaster? , A History of the Poeple of tThe United States: From the Revolution ot the Civil War (1927) (Rhode pincites 302 for "bloodsuck[ing] legal practices). Available as a searchable pdf document here
Lefler, Hugh Talmage. 1956. North Carolina History told by contemporaries. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. (pincite to 87 for "will eat out the very Bowels of our Commonwealth")
Friedman argues that "As soon as... society posed problems for which lawyers had an answer..., layers began to thrive, despite the hostility.", here. As the profession grew, one might hypothesize that established lawyers would wish to use character and fitness standards to limit entry to the profession for economic reasons. Alternatively, lawyers may have had class-based motivations; between 1800 and 1900 the class of men composing the profession shifted from the "elite" to middle class and business backgrounds (Friedman, linked above), and elite class may have developed character standards as barriers for entry. However, Rhode's empirical research suggests that if were this a motivation, it was an ineffective ploy. |
| | George Sharswood, in An Essay on Professional Ethics (1884), EssayonProfessionalEthics demonstrates the shift from wishing to eliminate the legal profession to a desire to hold it to a high standard, "the things we hold dearest on earth... we confide to the integrity of our legal counsellors[sic] and advocates. Their character must be not only without a stain, but without suspicion." |
| | Despite their small number, the cases present do offer a mooring point.
TO FIND: |
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< | Schware v. Board, 353 U.S. 232 (communism) |
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> | Schware v. Board, 353 U.S. 232 (communism) Available here, Schware v. Board |
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< | In re Application of Stewart, 860 N.E.2d 729 (debt) |
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> | In re Application of Stewart, 112 Ohio St. 3d 415 (debt) Available as a pdf here, In Re Application of Stewart? |
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< | Ex Parte Wall 1077 U.S. 265 (1883) (mob lynching) |
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> | Ex Parte Wall 1077 U.S. 265 (1883) (mob lynching) available with notes here, Ex Parte Wall |
| | Smith, Admission to the Bar in New York, 16 Yale L.J. (1907) (514, 518 pincited by rhode for an example of lax standards) |
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< | Smith, Abraham Lincoln as a Bar Examiner, B. Examiner, Aug. 1982 (rhode points to 35, 37) |
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> | Smith, Abraham Lincoln as a Bar Examiner, B. Examiner, Aug. 1982 (rhode points to 35, 37) (obscure but available?) |
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< | Gawalt. The Promise of Power: The Emergence of the Legal Profession in Mass. 1760-1840 |
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> | Gawalt. The Promise of Power: The Emergence of the Legal Profession in Mass. 1760-1840. Available here, The Promise of Power... |
| | Character Examination of Candidates, I B. Examiner (1932) |