A LEGAL FRIENDLY SOCIETY. Free Law for the People.

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 85, 15 February 1902, Page 8

A LEGAL FRIENDLY SOCIETY. Free Law for the People.

AFTER reading Mr. Jellicoe s opinion (given without money and without price) that it would be a good thing if free legal advice was distributed among the people, we can only gasp, and faintly murmur Hear ' hear ' ' Probably, the most astonishing reform that one could imagine would be the reduction or elimination of fees usually charged to poor people by the gentlemen of the gown and wig. That a legal philanthropist has arisen is a matter for rejoicing, and that it will be possible for an average citizen to obtain a lawyer's opinion as to whether he need pay his rent, or gather knowledge on similar questions, would be a distinct advance that should be cage -ly looked forward to. * +■ * Probably, a kind of lodge law business, in which the legal doctor, who has hitherto charged 6s 8d lor his lightest word, will get an annual douceur for his wholesale work Some very valuable opinions should be the outcome of this proposed legal friendly society. It is an excellent device whereby th^ juvenile Eldons may flesh their barristerial swords, overawe the lodge patients (beg pardon- — clients), and establish precedents and legal forms hitherto undreamt of by the community. The poor person who wants legal advice gratis could on the average get as good an opinion from his employer as from the proposed benefactor, the fiee lawyer. * #■ It is not suggested that the lawyer shall charge the client nothing for conveyancing documents, Magistrate Court summonses, or common leases. It is the three-guinea will for the working man that requires cheapening the four-guinea land tiansfer and the costly precedents known by heait by the office typewriter that probably will remain unaffected by the proposed reform. If the lawyers of Wellington are really benevolently inclined, they certainly will not stop at the tendering of legal advice which may be gleaned fiom any authority in the Public Library If they can cheapen the puce of leady-made conveyances, of legal and indispensable documents, then tiue philanthropy will be more apparent The person who is too poor to pay for legal advice could generally be quite as well advised by the average policeman as by the average lawyer The idea, is, beyond quesition, useful, if the lawyers will go a step further, and submit plans whereby — inter alia — the State may give gratis advice and cheap conveyancing to the people who are too poor to pay the frequently exorbitant rates that have Hitherto been charged At any rate, Mr. Jellicoe needs every commendation for leading the way towards a desirable reform