The Idea Has Been
Common, And As Fatal As Common, That Success In Legal Practice Could
Be Easily Attained In The West With A Small Amount Of Skill And
Learning.
It is true that a poor lawyer aided by some good qualities
will sometimes rise to affluence and eminence, though such cases are
exceptions.
There are able layers in the West, and, though practice
may be less formal and subtle than in older communities, ability and
skill find their relative advancement and reward, while ignorance and
incapacity have their downward tendency just as they do everywhere
else. The fees for professional services are liberal, being higher
than in the East. Before an attorney can be admitted to practise he
must have an examination by, or under the direction of, one of the
judges of the supreme court. The provisions of the territorial
statutes are quite strict in their tendency to maintain upright
practice.
An act of the present congress has created a revolution in the courts
of the territory. The organic act, SS 9, provided that the territory
should be divided into three judicial districts; "and a district court
shall be held in each of said districts by one of the justices of the
supreme court, at such times and places as may be prescribed by law."
This meant, I suppose, at such times and places as the territorial
legislature should prescribe. Accordingly, as population increased and
extended, and as counties were established, the territorial
legislature increased the places in each district for holding the
district court.
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