them; for if more liberally resorted to, they beget doubts where none may have existed or strengthen those which before were only feebly felt. 17. Should I attain that eminent standing at the bar which gives authority to my opinions, I shall endeavor, in my intercourse with my junior brethren, to avoid the least display of it to their prejudice. I will strive never to forget the days of my youth, when I too was feeble in the law, and without standing. I will remember my then ambitious aspirations (though timid and modest) nearly blighted by the inconsiderate or rude and arrogant deportment of some of my seniors; and I will further remember that the vital spark of my early ambition might have been wholly extinguished, and my hopes forever ruined, had not my own resolutions, and a few generous acts of some others of my seniors, raised me from my depression. To my juniors, therefore, I shall ever be kind and encouraging; and never too proud to recognize distinctly that, on many occasions, it is quite probable their knowledge may be more accurate than my own, and that they, with their limited reading and experience, have seen the matter more soundly than I, with my much reading and long experience. 18. To my clients I will be faithful; and in their causes zealous and industrious. Those who can afford to compensate me, must do so; but I shall never close my ear or heart because my client's means are low. Those who have none, and who have just causes, are, of all others, the best entitled to sue, or be defended; and they shall receive a due portion of my services, cheerfully given. 19. Should my client be disposed to compromise, or to settle his claim, or defense, and especially if he be content with a verdict or judgment, that has been rendered, or, having no opinion of his own, relies with confidence on mine, I will in all such cases greatly respect his wishes and real interests. The further prosecution, therefore, of the claim or defense (as the case may be), will be recommended by me only when, after mature deliberation, I am satisfied that the chances are decidedly in his favor; and I will never . forget that the pride of professional opinion on my part, or the spirit of submission, or of controversy (as the case may be), on that of my client, may easily mislead the judgment of both, and cannot justify me in sanctioning, and certainly not in recommending, the further prosecution of what ought to be regarded as a hopeless cause. To keep up the ball (as the phrase goes) at my client's expense, and to my own profit, must be dishonorable; and however willing my client may be to pursue a phantom, and to rely implicitly on my opinion, I will terminate the controversy as conscientiously for him as I would were the cause my own. 20. Should I not understand my client's cause, after due means to comprehend it. ↑ 21. The wealthy and the powerful shall have no privilege against my client that d not equally appertain to others. None shail be so great as to rise, even for a moment, above the just requisitions of the law. 22. When my client's reputation is involved in the controversy, it shall be, if possible, Judicially passed on. Such cases do not ad mit of compromise; and no man's elevated standing shall induce me to consent to such a mode of settling the matter: the amende from the great and wealthy to the ignoble and poor should be free, full and open. 23. In all small cases in which I may be engaged I will as conscientiously discharge my duty as in those of magnitude; always recollecting that "small" and "large" are to clients relative terms, the former being to a poor man what the latter is to a rich one: and, as a young practitioner, not forgetting that large ones, which we have not, will never come, if the small ones, which we have, are neglected. 24. I will never be tempted by any pes cuniary advantage, however great, nor be persuaded by any appeal to my feelings, however strong, to purchase, in whole or in part, my client's cause. Should his wants be pressing, it will be an act of humanity to relieve them myself, if I am able, and if I at not, then to induce others to do so. But in no case will I permit either my benevolence or avarice, his wants or his ignorance, to seduce me into any participation of his pend. ing claim or defense. Cases may arise in which it would be mutually advantageous thus to bargain, but the experiment is too dangerous, and my rule too sacred, to admit of any exception, persuaded as I am that the relation of client and counsel, to be preserved in absolute purity, must admit of no such privilege, however guarded it may be by circumstances; and should the special case alluded to arise, better would it be that my client should suffer, and I lose a great and honest advantage, than that any discre tion should exist in a matter so extremely liable to abuse, and so dangerous in prece dent. And though I have thus strongly worded my resolution, I do not thereby mean to repudiate, as wholly inadmissible, the taking of contingent fees. On the contrary, they are sometimes perfectly proper and are called for by public policy, no less than by humanity. The distinction is very clear. A claim or defense may be perfectly good in law, and in justice, and yet the expenses of litigation would be much beyond the means of the claimant or defendant-and equally so as to counsel, who, if not thus contingently com pensated in the ratio of the risk, might not be compensated at all. A contingent fee looks to professional compensation only on the final result of the matter in favor of the client. None other is offered or is attainable. The claim or defense never can be made without such an arrangement. It is voluntarily tendered, and necessarily accepted or rejected. before the institution of any proceedings. It flows not from the influence of counsel over client. Both parties have the option to be off. No expenses have been incurred. No moneys have been paid by the counsel to the client. The relation of borrower and lender, of vendor and vendee, does not subsist between them; but it is an independent contract for the services of counsel to be rendered for the contingent avails of the matter to be litigated. Were this denied to the poor man, he could neither prosecute nor be defended. All of this differs essentially from the object of my resolution, which is against purchasing, in whole or in part, my client's rights, after the relation of client and counsel, in respect to it, has been fully established, after the strength of his case has become known to me, after his total pecuniary inability is equally known, after expenses have been incurred which he is unable to meet, after he stands to me in the relation of a debtor, and after he desires money from me in exchange for his pending rights. With this explanation I renew my resolution never so to purchase my client's cause, in whole or in part, but still reserve to myself, on proper occasions, and with proper guards, the professional privilege (denied by no law among us) of agreeing to receive a contingent compensation freely offered for services wholly to be rendered, and when it is the only means by which the matter can either be prosecuted or defended. Under all other circumstances, I shall regard contingent fees as obnoxious to the present resolution. 25. I will retain no client's funds beyond the period in which I can, with safety and ease, put him in possession of them. 26. I will on no occasion blend with my own my client's money. If kept distinctly as his it will be less liable to be considered as my own. 27. I will charge for my services what my Judgment and conscience inform me is my due, and nothing more. If that be withheld it will be no fit matter for arbitration; for no one but myself can adequately judge of such services, and after they are successfully rendered, they are apt to be ungratefully forgotten. I will then receive what the client offers, or the laws of the country may award; but in either case he must never hope to be again my client. 28. As a general rule I will carefully avoid what is called the "taking of half fees." And though no one can be so competent as myself to judge what may be a just compensation for my services, yet when the quiddam honorarium has been established by usage or law, I shall regard as eminently dishonorable all underbidding of my professional brethren. On such a subject, however, no inflexible rule can be given to myself, except to be invariably guided by a lively recollection that I belong to an honorable profession. 29. Having received a retainer for contemplated services, which circumstances have prevented me from rendering, I shall hold myself bound to refund the same, as having been paid to me on a consideration which has failed, and, as such, subject to restitution on every principle of law, and of good morals, and this shall be repaid not merely at the instance of my client, but ex mero motu. 30. After a cause is finally disposed of, and all relation of client and counsel seems to be forever closed, I will not forget that it once existed, and will not be inattentive to his just request that all of his papers may be carefully arranged by me, and handed over to him. The execution of such demands, though sometimes troublesome, and inopportunely or too urgently made, still remains a part of my professional duty, for which I shall consider myself already compensated. 31. All opinions for clients, verbal or written, shall be my opinions, deliberately and sincerely given, and never venal and flattering offerings to their wishes or their vanity. And though clients sometimes have the folly to be better pleased with having their views confirmed by an erroneous opinion than their wishes or hopes thwarted by a sound one, yet such assentation is dishonest and unprofessional. Counsel, in giving opinions, whether they perceive this weakness in their clients or not, should act as judges, responsible to God and man, as also especially to their employers, to advise them soberly, discreetly, and honestly, to the best of their ability, though the certain consequence be the loss of large prospective gains. 32. If my client consents to endeavors for a compromise of his claim or defense, and for that purpose I am to commune with the opposing counsel or others, I will never permit myself to enter upon a system of tactics, to ascertain who shall overreach the other by the most nicely balanced artifices of disingenuousness, by mystery, silence, obscurity, suspicion, vigilance to the letter, and all of the other machinery used by this class of tacticians to the vulgar surprise of clients, and the admiration of a few ill-judging lawyers. On the contrary, my resolution in such a case is to examine with great care, previously to the interview, the matter of compromise; to form a judgment as to what I will offer or accept; and promptly, frankly, and firmly to communicate my views to the adverse counsel. In so doing no lights shall be withheld that may terminate the matter as speedily and as nearly in accordance with the rights of my client as possible; although a more dilatory, exacting, and wary policy might finally extract something more than my own or even my client's hopes. Reputation gained for this species of skill is sure to be followed by more than an equivalent loss of character; shrewdness is too often allied to unfairness, caution to severity, silence to disingenuousness, wariness to exaction to make me covet a reputation based on such qualities. 33. What is wrong is not the less so from being common, And though few dare to be singular, even in a right cause, I am resolved to make my own, and not the conscience of others, my sole guide. What is morally wrong cannot be professionally right, however it may be sanctioned by time or custom. It is better to be right with a few, or even none, than wrong, though with a multitude. If, therefore, there be among my brethren any traditional moral errors of practice, they shall be studiously avoided by me, through in so doing I unhappily come in collision with what is (erroneously, I think) too often denominated the policy of the profession. Such cases, fortunately, occur but seldom; but, when they do, I shall trust to that moral firmness of purpose which shrinks from no consequences, and which can be intimidated by no authority, however ancient or respectable. 34. Law is a deep science. Its boundaries, like space, seem to recede as we advance; and though there be as much of certainty in it as in any other science, it is fit we should be modest in our opinions, and ever willing to be further instructed. Its acquisition is more than the labor of a life, and after all can be with none the subject of an unshaken confidence. In the language, then, of a late beautiful writer, I am resolved to "consider my own acquired knowledge but as a torch flung into an abyss, making the darkness visible, and showing me the extent of my own ignorance." (Jameson.) 35. I will never be voluntarily called as a witness in any cause in which I am counsel. Should my testimony, however, be so material that without it my client's cause may be greatly prejudiced, he must at once use his option to cancel the tie between us in the cause, and dispense with my further services or with my evidence. Such a dilemma would be anxiously avoided by every delicate mind, the union of counsel and witness being usual. ly resorted to only as a forlorn hope in the agonies of a cause, and becomes particularly offensive when its object be to prove an admission made to such counsel by the opposite litigant. Nor will I ever recognize any distinction in this respect between my knowledge of facts acquired before and since the institution of the suit, for in no case will I consent to sustain by my testimony any of the matters which my interest and professional duty render me anxious to support. This resolution, however, has no application whatever to facts contemporaneous with and relating merely to the prosecution or defense of the cause itself, such as evidence relating to the contents of a paper unfortunately ot by myself or others, and such like matter which do not respect the original merits of the controversy, and which, in truth, ad nothing to the once existing testimony, but relates merely to matters respecting the conduct of the suit, or to the recovery of lost evidence; nor does it apply to the case of gratuitous counsel—that is, to those wh have expressly given their services volun tarily. 36. Every letter or note that is addressed to me shall receive a suitable response, and in proper time. Nor shall it matter from whom it comes, what it seeks, or what may be the terms in which it is penned. Silence can be justified in no case; and though the information sought cannot or ought not to be given, still decorum would require from me a courteous recognition of the request, though accompanied with a firm withholding of what has been asked. There can be no surer indication of vulgar education than neglect of letters and notes. It manifests a total want of that tact and amenity which intercourse with good society never fails to confer. But that dogged silence (worse than a rude reply) in which some of our profession indulge on receiving letters offensive to their dignity, or when dictated by ignorant impor. tunity, I am resolved never to imitate, but will answer every letter and note with as much civility as may be due, and in as good time as may be practicable. 37. Should a professional brother, by his industry, learning, and zeal, or even by some happy chance, become eminently successful in causes which give him large pecuniary emolu ments, I will neither envy him the fruits of his toils or good fortune, nor endeavor by any indirection to lessen them, but rather strive to emulate his worth, than enviously to brood over his meritorious success, and my own more tardy career. 38. Should it be my happy lot to rank with or take precedence of my seniors, who formerly endeavored to impede my onward course, I am firmly resolved to give them no cause to suppose that I remember the one, or am conscious of the other. When age and infirmities have overtaken them, my kindness will teach them the loveliness of forgiveness. Those, again, who aided me when young in the profession shall find my gratitude increase in proportion as I become the better able to sustain myself. 39. A forensic contest is often no very sure test of the comparative strength of the combatants, nor should defeat be regarded as a just cause of boast in the victor, or of mort fication in the vanquished. When the controversy has been judicially settled against me, in all courts, I will not "fight the battle o'er again," coram non judice; nor en deavor to persuade others, as is too often done, that the courts were prejudiced, or the |