ABSTRACT
This professional obligation was sometimes evaded and sometimes accepted with bad grace.* The counsel who were anxious to take these cases were, for the most part, barristers who, owing to inexperience or some other reason, had not been eiJ,trusted by solicitors with more remunerative work, and who hoped to attract notice by their conduct of the defence. Unfortunately it was
sometimesthewrongkindofnoticeasinthecaseoftheoldlag, whoafterhavinghadthedoubtfulbenefitofadockbriefandbeen convicted,wasaskedwhetherhehadanythingtosaybefore sentenceandreplied,"Nothing,myLord,excepttopleadthe youthandinexperienceofmycounsel."Evenifthebarrister wascompetentandwilling,hewasrequiredtodoallthework whichwouldnormallybedoneforhimbyasolicitor;hehad onlyashorttimeinwhichtofindoutthefactsofthec~seandno opportunityofproducingthenecessarywitnessesorpreparingthe defenceinaprqpermanner.
