LONDON LEGAL LETTER.
London, Nov. 4, 1896. THE Michaelmas term of the courts opened with the usual pageantry and ceremony on the twenty-sixth of October. It should have dated from the twenty-fourth, but that was a Saturday, and as all Saturdays are, nominally, half-holidays and, practically, Jies non in the court calen dar, the wheels of justice were not permitted to start their revolutions until two days later. On Monday, the opening day, there was the annual breakfast by the Lord Chancellor at the House of Lords, to the judges; and then, about noon, these judges, accom panied by the Queen's counsel, made a procession through the great hall of the Royal Courts. In anticipation of the ceremony the usual throng gathered; only the members of the bar, however, and certain solicitors and their guests, being admitted. It is wonderful what an attraction the spectacle of the judges, robed in scarlet vestments, and Queen's counsel in full-bottomed wigs and short breeches, silk stockings, and patent leather slippers with old-time silver buckles, has for the masses — and " the classes " also. As this ceremony of opening the courts, although it oc cupied a comparatively few minutes, was the entire work of the first day of the term, there was a good deal of grumb ling. Nearly twelve weeks had been given over to holiday much against the wishes of the junior bar, and yet here was an entire day abandoned to a ceremony that might easily have been got through with on the day fixed by the rules for the opening of the term. Nothwithstanding this grumbling, the new term starts out with a good deal of encouragement for the younger mem bers of the bar who look to it for their income. The lists show a decided increase in the volume of litigation, the total number of causes and appeals being 1,929, which is 344 in excess of the number at this period last year. It may interest American lawyers, who, for comparison, can gather similar data from the dockets of their own courts, to have some figures as to the character of this litigation. For instance, there are 195 more chancery causes than last year, and 240 more common law actions; while in the Probate and Divorce Division the number has fallen to 149 against 261 last Michaelmas sittings. Some light is thrown on the regard which is had for juries by the fact that of the 783 common law actions set down for trial, no fewer than 326, or nearly one-half, are marked " non-jury "; while of the 440 cases in which the aid of a jury is invoked, 240 will be tried by special and 200 by common juries. Generally speaking, the cases are of a more substantial character, there being only thirty actions for damages for " personal injuries," 22 for libel, 12 for slander, and 4 for breach of promise of marriage. This is certainly encouraging, and would tend to show that adventurous litigation is at a dis count, and that the courts are again coming into favor in cases of commercial and mercantile disputes. While on statistics of litigation, it may further be of in terest to know that by a return made to the House of Com mons it is shown that during the year 1894 the total number of divorce cases tried was 443. Of these 205 were instituted by wives, and 238 by husbands. The wives were successful in 196 cases, or .956 per cent of those brought,
and the husbands in 209 cases, or .878 per cent of those instituted by them. As the law in this country obliges the wife to prove either crueltry or desertion in addition to adultery, and the husband adultery only, the inference from these figures is largely in favor of the wife. During the long vacation just closed, one of the daily newspapers opened its columns to the " Grievances of Lawyers," and the letters which were published show that there is some ground for complaint, at least among solici tors, at the small returns the practice of the profession yields. It was stated by one complainant that it costs, roughly speaking, to become a solicitor, about j£l,ooo, and often a good deal more. The government, upon admission, exacts a fee of one hundred guineas, or the close equiv alent of $500. Five years have to be spent under articles, during which time he may not be engaged in any other occupation, and three examinations have to be passed. These examinations are most rigorous, — in fact they are considerably more exacting and cover a wider range of subjects than those which candidates for the bar are re quired to pass. Those who have put up this money and gone through the three years of office training, and have succeeded in the examinations, have practically only two avenues open to them in which to earn a living in the profession. They must either put up still more money, and this time a very much larger sum, to buy a partnership in an established firm of solicitors, or a business, or they must take a salary as a solicitor's clerk. The latter sometimes leads to a partnership, but, unless fortune is very favorable, only in exceptional cases. Starting out for oneself to practice law, as the fledgling in the United States " hangs out his shingle," is practically impossible. The only alter native, therefore, is the clerkship. What the rewards of such service are may be gathered from a recent advertise ment in a law journal : " Wanted, admitted solictor, as clerk. University man preferred. Salary commencing at .£75 "; or another, in which a university graduate offers his services with a nine years' experience as a solicitor, for a salary of,650 to j£ioo. This is about eight to ten dollars a week, or what an inexperienced clerk in a drygoods store expects. It is certainly not what a man who has spent four years at a preparatory school, three years at a university, and three years in a law-office, should be able to command. The cash capital invested after leaving the university ought to produce more if laid out in government bonds. The correspondence, of course, had no practical result. The trouble lies in the constitution of society, and that is not likely to be overturned by a revolution in the columns of a newspaper. The social position of the attor ney or solicitor has been constantly advancing of recent years, and the successes of those who succeed have been greater than in past generations. The natural consequence is a rush into the field of a polite calling for the few prizes that may be found there. In the meantime, the costs of litigation are deterring litigants, while laymen, such as estate agents, accountants, and land transfer registrars, are more and more taking away work which heretofore has been the exclusive function of solicitors. Stuff Gown.
