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The Green Bag
back upon and both are helpless without them, while the lawyer who understands
Thus we may narrow down the most important part of our program of his
the principals upon which his formulae
torical study to that which deals with
have been built up, can construct the law or the formulae in an emergency. At best the man who knows only rules
can approach the likeness of a machine which is useless if one of its parts is lost. The man who knows principals can learn the one for for
rules with less effort, and if he lose of them he is no whit dismayed his mind is stored with resources meeting such a contingency. To
be successful a lawyer must be resource ful.
The law is not an exact science
like mathematics; it is more subject to change, and for this reason it is all the more important that you who
intend to use it should understand its principles so that you will not gape
stupidly if a rule is wiped away and even your books do not give you the new one. And as we have said, these principles can only be understood in the light of their historical development. In an address made as president of the Association of American Law Schools,
Prof. W. P. Rogers said: “The develop ment of civilization and the advance of civil government are so interwound with the growth and development of the law, that in pursuing either, one cannot avoid the other, and the student who has completed a course in history is delighted and charmed later with his
legal studies, when he discovers him self frequently crossing and traversing familiar paths.” You who wish to be
a lawyer cannot acquaint yourself too thoroughly with history-particularly social and constitutional history. The so-called “common law" which is the law of all but one of the states
Rome, England and the United States,
as far as it is possible to study the history of one of these without reference to that of neighboring civilizations. Probably the subjects of next im portance in leading up to the study of law, are economics and social and political science. At least an intro duction to these studies is found among the courses provided for the freshman or sophomore year in most colleges,
but they are seldom taught with any thing like adequacy in the high school. It is for the student who must combat the disadvantage of not having a college
education, to gain by private study as thorough an insight into them as possible. Attention to the art of written and oral expression cannot be too strongly
urged. lawyers.
The former is necessary to all The latter is necessary to
some, and is a useful accomplishment to all. To quote Professor Rogers once more: “We should all agree that one cannot take too much of what is gener
ally designated as the course in English, for the lawyer who can use with fluency and accuracy the words of the English, language is well equipped for the law though he may be ignorant of other languages.” Of oral expression he says: "And to every young man who contemplates a life at the bar, I would say, miss no opportunity to cultivate
this art. Take advantage of every occasion which gives you a chance to think and talk in public." As accuracy is one of the pre-eminent requirements of the legal practitioner, mathematics, and other studies which induce it, are of great importance as
of the Union, is based upon the common
mental training.
law of England, which in turn goes back to Roman law for its inception
case or draw up a brief the watchful adversary will take advantage of any
When you present a
