Trivial Legal Pots and Pans

NZ Truth, Issue 1206, 10 January 1929, Page 6

Trivial Legal Pots and Pans

THERE appears to be a growing ten- - dency among junior "Agony" lawyers m this country to ■bring the most trifling maintenance cases before magistrates, •mainly with. the. object, presumably, of eliciting a measure of newspaper publicity. The truism that empty vessels make the most sound, applies rather appositely to many young solicitors untrained (and untried) m the practical requirements of / domestic litigation, since practically every magisterial dais m New Zealand palpably creaks beneath the volume of unnecessary documents relating to trivial squabblings between man and wife.

"Really, Mr. Lex, this never should have been brought to court. Surely it could have been amicably settled be-. • tween the parties?" is a remonstrance which daily passes the* lips of our ; magistracy, yet the undesirable practice continues. . : - Quite frequently, the hearing of more important lawsuits may be upset by the introduction into the schedule of some petty wrangle which could quite easily have been adjusted by conference m a solicitor's office. Not only is the Bench's tune frittered away, but these punitive pleas by husband and wife become more costly to themselves and the country as welL