The Lawyer as an Officer of the Court various officers and of the standing committees in themselves constitute a full and complete review of all trans actions of the Association during the year past, and I will therefore content myself with a few general suggestions that have occurred to me during my occupancy of this office. . . . When I assumed this office I made the statement that my primary object would be to bring about, if possible, a higher standard of the profession as far as the public is concerned. The pro fession of law is one of the most highly respected of all the learned professions. To successfully practice that profession requires, not only the highest of intel lectual accomplishments, but the highest standard of morality and fair dealing. The profession does not, in the eyes of the public, occupy that high and digni fied stand that it is entitled to, and I believe that this is due, not solely to a prejudice on the part of the public entertained towards the profession, but also to the law itself and to the members of the profession. While I have con stantly had in mind the ideal which I set before me at the beginning of my administration, I am constrained to plead that I have done comparatively little to advance this high standard. Let us for a moment consider the cause or the reasons why the profession does not occupy morally in the eyes of the public the stand which it ought to. In the first place, attorneys generally are too closely identified with the success and failure of litigation. It has been my observation and also that of a great many members of the profession, that an attorney in a case is more interested in the outcome or results of litigation than is the client. He has not only at stake to a great extent his fee involved, but his reputation as an attorney. The result of this is that every possible point is
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strained by counsel to the utmost limit for the purpose of securing and acquir ing the desired end. The object of the attorney is to attain success. While attending a lecture at the law school at the University while I was a student there, one of the most noted lecturers of that institution made the statement that "A good lawyer wins lawsuits." Now, while that is, of course, a very desirable object to attain, it is often times accomplished at the sacrifice of the highest purpose for which the pro fession exists. It must always be remembered that the profession of law is instituted among men for the purpose of aiding the administration of justice. A proper administration of justice does not mean that a lawyer should succeed in winning a lawsuit. // means that he should properly bring to the attention of the court everything by way of fact and law that is available and legitimate for the purpose of properly presenting his client's case. I have oftentimes thought and I still believe that the profession of law as it is now practised, and has been practised from time immemorial, is to a great extent at fault for the failure in securing justice. As long as private individuals are at liberty to use an officer who is a quasi-public officer as a representative, and pay him out of their private means, so long will the ends of justice to a great extent be diverted from that source. As stated before, an attorney at law is a guasi-pubic officer. His duty as far as his client is con cerned is simply to legitimately present his side of the case. His duty as far as the public is concerned and as far as he is an officer of the court is to aid and assist in the administration of justice. How to obviate this difficulty is one to which I have given a great deal of thought and attention. I will simply make a suggestion and that is this:
