The emotions
of the two opposing clients make a court drama. The acting and the
staging is the art of the lawyer.
The philology and derivation of the word client is significant. It
does not mean the principal, but a follower. It is derived from the
Latin word _cluere_ and the Greek _+klyein+_, meaning to hear; one who
listens, a follower.
An ordinary man has a horror of the entanglement of the law. A
hard-headed man of business says he would rather pay a claim of $250
or less, although he had never seen the claimant, and the suit was
utterly unfounded, than go to court. He would rather lose the same
amount than bring a suit involving the trouble and expense of hiring a
lawyer, requiring witnesses to waste their time, and wasting his own
in waiting for a trial, which might possibly result in a judgment
against him on a perfectly just debt, either through the miscarriage
of justice, or the chance of not collecting the judgment. The typical
feeling is that of the stockbroker who said: "Only blackmailing suits
go to court, for if sensible men have a dispute they know it is easier
and cheaper to settle it outside."
The client is in a darkened room. He only partially sees what is
going on.
Pages:
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74