The qualification and admission to practice of attorneys and solicitors in England, as of attorneys and counsellors in the United States, are under the direction of the courts. Usually students of in England who do not aspire to become hamsters begin by entering as ar ticled clerks in the service of attorneys or solicitors, and a legal education there as here is obtained mainly by practical experience. In Canada the regulation of admissions to the bar rests with the Law Society of the Dominion. No person has the privilege of practising law who has not been duly admitted to the bar, and all proceedings or judgments obtained in an action brought by one unauthorized to repre sent litigants as an attorney or counsellor at law are ipso-facto invalidated. In courts not of record a license to practise is not necessary, though there are some exceptions to this rule. Any person, however, may appear in his own behalf in any court. In this country admission to the bar is regarded a judicial act and the right to admit, generally speaking, is vested in the courts exclusively. In the exercise of the police power of the States, however, legis latures have assumed the making of regulations, which are held binding on the courts. This has been denied in several weighty opinions, how ever, wherein such legislative intervention is held to conflict with the constitutional powers of the judiciary. Applicants for admission to practise in the Federal courts are required to show that they are attorneys or counsellors at law duly authorized to practise in the Supreme Court of the State where they were domiciled at the time of their admission. Good character and fair professional standing, of course, are essentials. An applicant for admission to prac tise in the State courts must possess the requisite ability and legal training, to test which he must submit to examination by the court itself, or by examiners appointed for that purpose. Courses of study, periods of preparation and other conditions are prescribed by rules made, usually by the Supreme Court of the State. If the unit of judicial organization is the county, as is the case in Pennsylvania where the highest court of original jurisdiction is the Common Pleas Court in each county, the rules of ad mission are established by this tribunal. But even in Pennsylvania the Supreme Court grants admissions to practise at its own bar, and this privilege carries with it the right to practise at the bar of any county in the State. The rules governing admissions usually require that the applicant have studied law at a recognized law school, or in the office of a practising attorney, for a minimum term of two years. Where the period of study is spent in a lawyer's office the term is in many cases extended to three years, and the student is required to file a cer tificate of entry when his service in his mentor's law office begins. In some States students must pass a regents' examination in the liberal arts and obtain and file a regents' certificate of pro ficiency before they take their examination for admission to the bar. In New York the regents' examination must be taken within three months after the beginning of the student's term of service in a law office. In some jurisdictions proof that the applicant has pursued classical studies to some extent, shortens the ordinarily required period of service in a law office. Dur ing his law clerkship the applicant must have been actually engaged in assisting in business the attorney he serves, and have studied under the control and personal direction of his pre ceptor. Every important university in the United States now has a law department and in many States the graduates of recognized law schools, who have received the degree of "Bachelor of Laws,* are admitted to practise at the bar without examination. This courtesy is frequently extended also to attorneys or counsellors admitted to practise in the superior courts of other States; but this rule of comity, once universal, is meeting with growing dis favor. New Jersey takes the exceptional posi tion among the States of distinguishing between attorneys and counsellors. Only counsellors have the privilege of practising in the Supreme and Chancery courts, and no one can become a counsellor until he has been admitted and has practised as attorney for three years.
The suspension or disbarment of counsellors or attorneys-at-law, like their admission, is in the control of the courts and under their regu lation. Suspension or disbarment, being judi cial acts, cannot be accomplished by arbitrary procedure. There must be a sufficient cause for action and the preferment of charges and a hearing are indispensable. The conviction of an attorney or counsellor of a crime involving moral turpitude is, of course, a ground for disbarment, but suspension or disbarment may follow misconduct which is merely unprofes sional and does not constitute an indictable offense. The legal profession itself assumes disciplinary powers over its members and al most every county bar association maintains a complaint committee, to which charges made against members of the local bar are referred for investigation and eventual prosecution. A tong step forward was taken in professional self-discipline when the Alabama State Bar Association in 1898 adopted a of Legal Ethics.) This was reprinted with obvious ap proval in 118 Georgia Reports. On 27 Aug. 1908, finally, the American Bar Association at its annual meeting approved and adopted a (Canon of Ethics> in 31 articles, of which the following is an epitome: (1) It is the duty of counsel to maintain toward the court a re spectful attitude; (2) Members of the bar should prevent political considerations from outweighing fitness in the selection of judges; (3) Counsel should not exert influence on the court by marked attentions, unusual hospitality, etc., toward judges, which are uncalled for by
the personal relations of the parties; (4) A lawyer assigned as counsel to an indigent pris oner should not ask to be excused for trivial reasons, but protect the interests thus commit ted to him to the best of his ability; (5) It is a right of a lawyer to undertake the defense of a person accused of crime, regardless of his private opinions as to the guilt of the party; the primary duty of a public prosecutor is not to convict but to see that justice is done; (6) A lawyer must disclose at the time of his retainer all circumstances of his private rela tions to the parties, and any interest or con nection he has with the controversy, such as might influence a client in the selection of counsel. To represent opposing interests, ex cept by the express consent of all parties, is unprofessional; (7) Lawyers jointly prosecut ing or defending a cause and failing to agree must state their differences to their clients and leave the matter to the tatters' decision. The suggestion of a client to call in other counsel is no ground for offense; (8) Lawyers should endeavor to obtain full knowledge of the facts of a case before advising thereon and are bound to give candid opinions of the merits and of the probable results of contemplated litigation; (9) A lawyer should not communicate on a subject of controversy with an opposing party who is represented by counsel,• nor should he in any manner mislead a party not so repre sented; (10) A lawyer must not acquire any pecuniary or other beneficial interest in the subject matter of a litigation in which he is taking part; (11) When money or trust prop erty comes into the hands of an attorney the fact should be promptly reported to his client; the same must not be commingled with the attorney's private property or used by him; (12) Lawyers should avoid making charges for services which overestimate their value, as well as such as underestimate the same; a client's ability to pay does not justify excessive charges, though a client's poverty may require a smaller fee to be demanded; (13) Contingent fees,' when sanctioned by law, should be under su pervision of the court; (14) Controversies with clients concerning compensation should be avoided and suits to recover the same resorted to only to prevent injustice, imposition and fraud; (15) It is not the duty of a lawyer to do unscrupulously whatever may enable him to win a client's case: it is improper for a lawyer to assert in argument his personal belief in the innocence of a client or the justice of his cause. No fear of judicial disfavor or public unpopu larity should deter a lawyer from the full dis charge of his duty, but the great trust of a lawyer is to be performed within, not without, the bounds of the law. No violation of law, no fraud or chicane, is demanded of him for any client, however powerful or influential. The lawyer must obey the dictates of his own con science; (16) A lawyer must restrain and pre vent his client from doing things which he himself ought not to do; (17) Ill-feeling be tween litigants should not influence counsel in the conduct of a case. All personalities between counsel should be scrupulously avoided; (18) Adverse witnesses and suitors should be treated with fairness and consideration; a lawyer must never minister to the malevolence of a client; (19) When a lawyer is a witness, except with regard to merely formal matters, he should leave the trial to other counsel; (20) Newspaper discussion by lawyers of pend ing is condemned; (21) Punctuality is a prime duty of a lawyer; (22) Conduct before a court must be characterized by candor and To knowingly misquote docu ments or the oral testimony of witnesses, or the language or argument of opposing counsel, is unprofessional and So also is the getting before a in the form of argu testimony that would be excluded as objectionable; (23) Fawning or flattery of a jury, or pretended solicitude for their personal comfort is unprofessional. So also is con versation with jurors about a case either during or after the 25, 26) Condemn refusal to extend professional courtesies to opposing counsel when no harm can be done thereby to a interest; con demn the taking of technical advantage of the trustfulness of opposing the repudia tion of unwritten agreements with regard to tha incidents of a legal proceeding and other sharp practices; (27) The publication of ordinary business cards is not but solicitation of business by circular or advertising, or through touters, or by inspiring newspaper which magnifies the importance of the services of the advertiser or of the cases in which he is are denounced as un Stirring up litigation di rectly or through agents is not only unprofes sional but indictable at common law; (29) Law yers should expose corrupt or dishonorable conduct in the profession and accept employ ment unhesitatingly against an attorney who has wronged his A lawyer must decline to conduct a cause or make a defense the purpose whereof is merely to harass the opposing party or work oppression; (31) No lawyer is obligated to act either as adviser or advocate for every person who may wish to become his client. Consult 'Corpus Juris' (Vol. p. 556, under title °Attorney and Client' §g 1-121) Carter, 'Ethics of the Legal Profession' (1915j ; Costigan, G. P., Jr., 'Cases and Other Authorities on Legal Ethics' (Saint Paul 1917) ; Loftie, W. J. 'Inns of Court and Chancery? (London Home, G., and Headlam, C., 'The. Inns o1` Court' (London 1909).