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-- AndrewMcCormick - 13 Nov 2009 | | | The English system suggests informal character selection. In Britain Solicitors received training and eduction by apprenticeship, usually in their teens. One can hardly imagine a solicitor not considering character in selecting a student to work in his office for two gears. The Inns of Court, which provided barristers with accreditation, required presence at meals and casual debates over a number of days in the year; again, one can hardly imagine the Inns not basing admission on partially on character. The British program did not transplant itself across the Atlantic. | |
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< | In early America, lawyers were unwelcome. The practice was viewed as unnecessary and even evil. The Body of Liberties of Massachusetts Bay, 1641, fascinatingly prohibited legal representatives from taking fees in section 26. Similarly, the 1669 Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas' article 70 proclaims practicing law for money as "base and vile". The disdain for lawyers was not limited to legislatures, the public also held them in disdain. J. McMaster, A History of the People of The United States: From the Revolution to the Civil War (1927) "With the merchants, in the condemnation of the multitude, were joined the lawyers. Indeed, of the two classes, the members of the bar were the more hated and despised. The mere sight of a lawyer as he hurried along the street was enough to call forth an oath or a muttered curse from the louts who hung round the tavern... They were denounced as banditti, as blood-suckers, as pick-pockets, as wind-bags, as smooth-tongued rogues." (as an aside, an interesting side project would be investigating early letters and publications targeting lawyers - if anyone's interested, beginning with Benjamin Austin's letters signed "Honestus" might be a starting point) | >
> | In early America, lawyers were unwelcome. The practice was viewed as unnecessary and even evil. The Body of Liberties of Massachusetts Bay, 1641, fascinatingly prohibited legal representatives from taking fees in section 26. Similarly, the 1669 Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas' article 70 proclaims practicing law for money as "base and vile". The disdain for lawyers was not limited to legislatures, the public also held them in disdain. J. McMaster, A History of the People of The United States: From the Revolution to the Civil War (1927) "With the merchants, in the condemnation of the multitude, were joined the lawyers. Indeed, of the two classes, the members of the bar were the more hated and despised. The mere sight of a lawyer as he hurried along the street was enough to call forth an oath or a muttered curse from the louts who hung round the tavern... They were denounced as banditti, as blood-suckers, as pick-pockets, as wind-bags, as smooth-tongued rogues." Chroust suggested a dislike for all things English and haphazard nature of the unformed law contributed to this antipathy (Chroust I, p5). However, a more persuasive argument is economic: lawyers were "the lawyer was most unpopular, not to say despised, in the "bedbtor areas," while in the "creditor areas" he was... at least welcomed" (Chroust I, 14). It is easy to imagine the reputation of lawyers tracks debtors rights. (as an aside, an interesting side project would be investigating early letters and publications targeting lawyers - if anyone's interested, beginning with Benjamin Austin's letters signed "Honestus" might be a starting point. I find it especially interesting the he argued that lawyers, now a common profession for those in government, would threaten the Republic if allowed to serve in office. He also wrote entertaining anti-lawyer poetry, if interested see Chroust I, FN53, Vermont Gazette Feb. 28 1786, et al.)
In late 18th century New York, lawyers were not banned but were required to take an oath and provide evidence of their commitment to the United States, and those previously licensed to practice had to make a showing to a jury that they had "conducted himself as a good and zealous friend to the American cause", introducing patriotism as a professional credential (Chroust I, p7, quoting Laws of the State of New York Passed at the Sessions of the Legislature 155-157). This proved to be a substantial burden, and reduced the New York Supreme Court bar to nine members (although it is unclear how much larger a group these nine were selected from) (Chroust I, p10). | | | 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 in early America, especially until lawyers became an accepted fixture of American professional culture and (2) to provide some semblance of retaining Britain's elite solicitor class by attempting to give American lawyers elevated personal status. | | | Minorities in the American Legal Profession | |
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> | The Private Debt and the Legal Profession as an Historical Phenomenon (Shays Rebellion; New York rent riots would be a starting point - look to Chroust at 13 for beginnings) | | | |
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