THIS LEGAL PROFESSION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 92, 19 July 1881, Page 2

THIS LEGAL PROFESSION.

It; would appear as if the palmy days of the le^al profession in Xow Zealand are iui'nUero<]. Sir U-jor^e Grey has succeeded in getting a Bill as far as the sec uid road--1114 in tli) L nv.v H. mse, the effect of which will l>e to widen to a degree the portals of admission to the le^al profession. The following is th> substance of Sir Ci-jorge'* measure :-»' : Notwithstanding any law in force in the colony relative to the admission of persons to he barristers and solicitors of the Supreme Court of the colony, from and after the p using of thi3 Ac!; every person of the full age of twenty-one years, and of whose good fame and reputatatioii and of whose learning any one or more judges b the said Court shall be 3 itisfieil by examination in law when and in such manner as m.iy from time to time be prescribed by the judges of the said Court, shall be entitled to be and be admitted and enrolled without fee as a barrister and solicitor of the said Court, and generally to the practice of tho lave, and to all the rights and privileges thereof." It will be noticed the Bill proposes to confine the examination to law. any one who passes in tha r fundameutalsuhjeet being entitled to be enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of tho Supreme Court. In this there is a very ■vido departure from the existing law. One thing that has not previously been remarked on is the fact that it appears to contemplate the opening of the legal profession to the fair sex. The gallant Knight of K a wan does not propose that "every »»«•»," Re, but "every person," and, if we ire not mistaken Sir George fully intends do fling ooen the gates of the Temple of Law to both sexes. While we heartily endorse his action in breaking down the narriers which have for so 1 >ag surrounded the legal profession, we think the colony rill scarcely feel with Sir Gaorge in wishing toinllict feminine barristers and solicitors ipon the colony. The proper sphere of -voinan is in the home, hog in Law Courts an 1 similar places. We therefore hope tha in committee the word "person " will >c struck out, and " man " inserted instead. Upmi the general question of refirm in the legal profession, there can bo no doubi thit there is great need for some such check as Sir G-eorge Grey proposes. At pres ;nt the difficulties in the way of young men of tumble parentage entering she legal profession are considerable. The Uw requires that any candidate before himself for admission mus' pass a severe literary examination, including Latin and also one of the Continental languages. AI3O, he must hive served at least five yeai'3 as an articled clerk, or have •>een for three years exclusively employed in the study of the law as a pupil to ti member of the profession, or been for live years employed as a Registrar or Clerk to a Registrar of the Supreme Court. These regulations are to a great exteut prohibitive, as no solicitor U al•.o>ved to have in his employ at any one tine nure than two article I clerics, anl li'j custom is to take as articled cli-rks >nly those whose parents or friends bring •rist to the legal mill. In plain language,' to become an articled clerk is a thing tha 1 ; has to be paid for. sometimes in -tie form of a premium (either in cash down or by working without pay) anl at other i'lies by securing to the solicitor a large amount of work. In either cisc, wo say, -•he sons of the lower c'asses ar handicappad ie.avilv in the race, although at the sune time there are number* of instances of boy 9 entering lawyers' offices as mere copyists <md having their articles presented to them in the end, but when that ojcues it is only .after a number of years of hard, servile work. The very liberal system of education now in vogue in New Zealand will enable youths of ability and perseverance •;<> gain sufficient knowledge to enable them to stuly for the law in their home-", mil we fully expect to see in the future, if Sir Gaorge Grey's Bill beoomes law, numbers of nvn who have worked at trades and businesses qualifying for tho Bar. There can be no doubt the number of lawyers will be greatly increased in a few years, after the new law has come into force, and though perhaps there may be a danger of legal work beiug done in a loose manner, that may be lessened by the Judges insisting on searching examinations in law. The public cannot fail to gain by the change in the matter of cheapness. It i* generally admitted that a present fees for l^gal work are higher than for any other work performed, and while th ere are many honorable members of the profession who ire reasonable! and just in their charges, these are the exception rather than the rule, many lawyers regarding a client as an orange, to be squeezed dry. In fact, Mr Travers' celebrated statement of "rascally bills of costs" finds an echo in the minds of >nmy who have to do with the law. The entrance of a number of men into the profession who have not been trained to draw a bill of costs in the present scientific way, and who are willing to receive f.air remuneration for their work, must; have a wholesome effect in brin<;i"g about a re iuction of le^al charges, and in cheapening the cost of litigatiou and legal work generally. The Bill that is to accomplish this, however, has not yet become law. In fact, kuowing the strong influence of the legal profession in Parliament, we shall not be surprised if it is shelved this session, or so altered as to beeoma unworkable. Public feeling, however, is strong on the matter, and if the change is not accepted just now, it will be delayed only a few years at the most.