ATTORNEY

(From the modern Latin tor no, whence attorno, attorn at us, signifying one who serves the turn, or is set in the place of another to do his busine .) An attorney is either private or public. A private attorney is a person who acts for another in the conduct of his affairs out of court; for which purpose a verbal authority is in general sufficient; but for the performance of some acts, as, to deliver seisin of land, to transfer bank stock, or to execute a deed for another, he must be authorised by a formal power of attorney. He is not nece arily of the profe ion of the law; and the above, and all other the various matters unconnected with actual litigation in which he may be employed, such as the preparation of legal instruments, and the giving of advice and a istance in the transfer and management of property, may be undertaken by any other person, A public attorney, or an attorney at law, has been defined to be an officer of a court of record, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in courts of law on the retainer of clients. The circumstance of his being an oflSicer of the court in which he may practise is important, as bringing him immediately within its summary jurisdiction, and thereby giving rise to his peculiar privileges and disabilities. A solicitor differs from an attorney in practising in courts of equity instead of common law. Anciently parties were not allowed to appear in court by attorney without the king's special warrant by writ or letters patent, and if this could not be obtained were compelled every day during the pendency of their suit to be present in their own proper persons. The power of suing and being sued by attorney was first given by statute in the time of Edward I. All persons may now appear in court by an attorney of their own appointment, except infants, who must appear by next friend or guardian; married women, for whom, unle when proceeding in chancery in respect of their separate estate against their husbands, the attorney must be appointed by their husbands; idiots, and persons charged with any criminal offence, must appear in person; lunatics, if of full age, and corporations, cannot appear otherwise than by attorney. The admi ion and practice of attornevs is now chiefly regulated by the 2 G. 2. c. 23., and other statutes made in the same and succeeding reign. The fii sf requisite to be complied with in order to become an attorney is to enter into a contract in writing, called articles of clerkship, on which a heavy stamp duty is payable, with an attorney or solicitor actually practising, or other officer of court specified by statute to serve i him in the capacity of clerk for five years. No attorney or solicitor can take more than two articled clerks at the same time, but some of the officers above referred to are allowed to take three persons who have taken the degree of B. A. or B. C. L. at Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin, within a certain fixed period after matriculation at the university, and before execution of their articles may be admitted as attorneys after a clerkship of three years. Clerks also who are bound for five years are allowed to reckon as part of their term a year pa ed as bona fide pupils to a barrister or special pleader. After the expiration of the service, and notice given of his intention to apply for admi ion, the clerk must go before a board of examiners recently e^tab ATTRACTION. lished by the judges under rule of court, and his fitne and capacity having been approved, be sworn in open court to demean himself honestly in his practice. His name is then entered on one of the records of the court, called the roll of attorneys, and he is duly admitted an attorney of that particular court. He may, however, when admitted of any one court at Westminster, practise in any one of the other courts there, in the name of an attorney of such other court, with his consent in writing. He may, at a trifling expense, be admitted a solicitor in any of the courts of equity, as a solicitor in equity may in like manner be admitted an attorney of any of the courts of common law. After admi ion he must, before the 16th December in every year, pay a certain duty, and obtain his certificate. Should he for one whole year neglect to take out his certificate, he would, besides incurring a penalty for practising without one, be thenceforth incapable of acting in court in any profe ional character; but upon payment of all arrears of duty since the expiration of his last certificate, and of a further sum by way of penalty, may be readmitted. An attorney actually practising is supposed to be always present in court, and has for that reason many privileges in common with its other officers. He is accordingly exempted from serving on juries and inquests, and generally from filling all offices which require personal service; he has the privilege in all personal actions of suing in his own court, and of retaining the venue in Middle sex, and as defendant is not liable to be arrested on mesne proce . He is in general privileged from giving evidence of any confidential communication made to him by his client: this, however, is the privilege not of the profe ion but of the client, who may waive it if he please. An attorney cannot fill the office of justice of the peace, sheriff", and many other offices, and cannot be bail for another unle in criminal cases. He is not permitted to deal with his clients in the same unrestrained manner in which ordinary men may deal with each other; and when a purchaser of his client's property, is sometimes'required to show affirmatively in the first instance that he has given for it its full value. To restrain him from extortionate and vexatious conduct, he is required, one month at least before bringing an action to recover fees for busine done in court, to deliver to his client a bill of costs, which, upon application of the client and his undertaking to pay what shall appear due, will be taxed by an officer of the court, and if exorbitant be reduced to a fair and reasonable amount. Where an attorney has been guilty of gro ignorance, neglect, or misbehaviour, in the management of his client's busine , the court will frequently interpose in a summary manner, and compel the attorney to pay the costs, or make reparation for any lo occasioned by his default; and in cases of fraudulent malpractice grant an attachment against him, or even strike him off" the roll. He is besides liable to an action for any gro and culpable negligence, by which the interests of his client may have been prejudiced. In matters of difficulty, not lying within his own department of the profe ion, he is protected from responsibility by acting on the opinion of counsel; but in matters of simple and ordinary practice, where the law will presume him to have the requisite knowledge himself, he cannot avoid his responsibility by consulting another. [s. 118]