Do Not Make Your Son an Attorney
Apart from the heavy expenses which must, even under the most favourable circumstances, attend the introduction of a youth into the legal profession, the fact must never be lost sight of that the examination which articled clerks are now called upon to pass before they can be admitted is of such a rigorous nature that perhaps not one in ten of the established practising attorneys could undergo the ordeal. Then, if we consider that the legal profession is at the present moment vastly overstocked, and reflect upon the fact of numbers of clever young men, who finding it impossible to beat out a connexion for themselves, either make for one of the colonies, or settle down at home in managing clerkships, at salaries scarcely equal to the remuneration paid to skilled mechanics, there is quite enough to make us hesitate before placing our sons in law offices. Nor must the fact be overlooked, that the tendency of our legislation has been, and will continue to be, to simplify legal procedure as much as possible; to lower the scale of fees payable to attorneys and solicitors, and even to dispense in many instances, with the necessity for employing professional men at all.—S. Warren, Q.C.