ABSTRACT
Litigation must always be a heavy expense to somebody, whether it be the Poor Person, his opponent, the State, or all three. Moreover, a litigious state of mind is not a desirable thing. "Agree with thine adversary whilst thou art in the way " is always, the ideal, and litigation is only justifiable when the opponent refuses to make a reasonable settlement or when there is some issue at stake which only a court can decide. It is one of the great defects of the Poor Persons' Rules that they make no provision for legal advice. In practice a great many of the Honorary Secretaries of Poor Persons' Committees feel obliged to give legal advice to applicants, since otherwise unnecessary and needless applications come before the committees or applicants who pr;obably have good claims are unable to prove even a prima facie case through ignorance of what evidence is required or means to obtain it.
