Wisconsin Supreme Court

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The Profession of Law and Commercialism

Marquette University Law School

Marquette Law ReviewVolume 12Issue 1 December 1927 Article 1The Profession of Law and CommercialismWisconsin Supreme CourtFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulrPart of the Law CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion inMarquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contactmegan.obrien@marquette.edu.Repository CitationWisconsin Supreme Court, The Profession of Law and Commercialism, 12 Marq. L. Rev. 1 (1927).Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol12/iss1/1Marquette Law ReviewVOL. 12 DECEMBER, 1927 No. iTHE PROFESSION OF LAWAND COMMERCIALISM*T HERE are not wanting signs that the taint of commercialismwhich has reached other professions has likewise laid its blightinghand upon the profession of the law. In a time when the emphasisin our national life is upon production and distribution, it is perhapsnot strange that men should enter the legal profession who regard itmerely as a trade or means of livelihood or of accumulating a fortune.It is not necessary to descant upon the glories of the legal profession,but any lawyer who has no other ideal than that of making moneyin the practice of his profession is almost certain to go wrong.Confidence in the courts is a necessary and indispensable factorin our national life. Those who administer the courts are drawnfrom the legal profession, and it is imperative that that professionmaintain its ideals. If the profession is to become a mere band oftraders with no other thought than merchandising legal training andability, our institutions cannot long maintain their present level. Itis, however, proper to say that there are comparatively few menengaged in the practice of law who do not adhere with scrupulousexactness to the high standards and the fine ideals of the legal pro-fession, and in this connection we quote the words of the late Mr.Chief Justice Winslow, who did as much perhaps as any other oneman has ever done in this state in building up professional ideals.He said: 'It is one thing to enter a business with the idea of gaining a liveli-hood or acquiring wealth thereby; this is perfectly honest and legiti-mate, but it is in no sense ennobling. It is quite another thing to entera profession with the conviction that it is charged with the great pub-lic duty of administering justice, and that its leaders in the past haveswayed the minds of their fellow citizens in the greatest affairs oflife and led democracy's battle wherever waged; this thought is in-spiring, it involves a consecration to duty, a conception of the lawyer'swork not as mere money getting but as service of the highest order,not as a mere occupation, but as a ministry.* Justice Rosenberry, for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in 185 Wis. 350.MARQUETTE LAW REVIEWMr. Chief Justice Ryan said:This is the true ambition of a lawyer: To obey God in the serviceof society; to fulfill His law in the order of society; to promote Hisorder in the subordination of society to its own law, adopted underHis authority; to minister to His justice, by the nearest approach toit, under the municipal law, which human intelligence and consciencecan accomplish. To serve man, by diligent study and true counselof the municipal law; to aid in solving the questions and guidingthe business of society, according to the law; to fulfill his allottedpart in protecting society and its members against wrong, in enforcingall rights and redressing all wrongs; and to answer, before God andman, according to the scope of his office and duty for the true andjust administration of the municipal law.Daniel Webster said:Justice is the greatest interest of man on earth. It is the ligaturewhich holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Whereverits temple stands, and so long as it is honored, there is a foundationfor social security, general happiness and the improvement and prog-ress of our race. And whoever labors upon this edifice with useful-ness and distinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens itspillars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august domestill higher to the skies, links himself in name, fame and characterwith that which is, and must be, as durable as the frame of humansociety.These are high ideals and noble sentiments. There are not wanting,in these times of unrest and change, many cynics who are willingto scoff at what they deem to be unrealities and who ignore, if theydo not despise, spiritual values. However, it must not be forgottenthat the foundations of our government were laid by men who weredevoted to principles and ideals and that upon these principles andideals our national success has been builded. If we are to maintainourselves we must maintain our ideals. No nation has ever becomegreat through material things, alone. It is when people have beenwilling to sacrifice unstintingly for their principles and their idealsthat nations have experienced their greatest advance, and a particularand peculiar responsibility rests upon the Bar and the Bench of thiscountry, and any conduct which tends to lower the standards andcorrupt the ideals of the Bar or to destroy the confidence of thepublic in the legal profession should meet with the most emphaticdisapproval and reprimand from all right-thinking members of theprofession, and particularly from the courts.The members of the legal profession are not alone in their appreci-ation of the necessity for maintaining its high standards. In 19o9the legislature, by chapter 179, required that every person admittedto practice law in this state should take an oath in open courts. Itis as follows:THE PROFESSION OF LAW AND COMMERCIALISM 3Section 2586a. Each person admitted to practice as a member ofthe bar of any court of this state shall subscribe the roll of attorneysto be kept by the clerk and shall in open court take an oath or af-firmation of the tenor following, to wit:I do solemnly swear:I will support the constitution of the United States and the consti-tution of the state of Wisconsin;I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicialofficers;I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceeding which shallappear to me to be unjust, or any defense, except such as I believeto be honestly debatable under the law of the land;I will employ, for the purpose of maintaining the causes confidedto me, such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, andwill never seek to mislead the judge or jury by any artifice or falsestatement of fact or law.I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets ofmy client and will accept no compensation in connection with hisbusiness except from hiim or with his knowledge and approval.I will abstain from all offensive personality and advance no factprejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless re-quired by the justice of the cause with which I am charged;I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, thecause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any man's cause forlucre or malice. So help me God.The substance of the oath relates to the relations of an attorneyto the United States, to the state of Wisconsin, to the courts, and tohis clients, and itself lays down ethical precepts of the highest order.While attorneys are not public officers, they are, as Mr. Chief justiceRyan said in In re Mosness, 39 Wis. 509, "quasi-officers of the state,whose justice is administered by the court."

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