A Philadelphia Lawyer in the London Courts

GS-MINOR ISSUE

ent, which consume so much of the time of an American court, are disposed of in England by Mast

icitors stand before the Master with a shelf upon which to rest books or papers; one side then states its demand and the other its objection in the briefest and most direct manner. The Master's immediate oral decision, accompanied by imposition of the costs and a few scratches of his pen on the back of t

There are no salutations nor introductory

: "Master, we claim ￡

's solicitor: "Do y

itor: "Yes, but w

mons) "Judgment for rent ￡50 with stay of

icitor: "If you

arty accepts the judgment of a master or judge in all courts. The exp

ant asks for delay, and gets seven days which i

der XIV" for judgment for ￡1,000. D

hat is the

now-a recent agreement has been made betw

you must pay the costs of the adjournm

icitor: "If you

ied, the parties agree to try it before the M

to disclosing his business and the written summons, containing the request for particulars, is gone over rapidly by the Master. Such parts of the request as, in his opinion, ought not to have been demanded, because they pry into the plaintiff's private affairs, are eliminated by a stroke of the Master's pen

dgment in an uncontested case for

ce, which is granted. As most of the witnesses are in London, the defendant wants to try the case here, but the plaintiff wishes to try it in

ummons for

ement of clai

solicitor: "

efence in

solicitor: "

No counte

solicitor: "

: "Doc

itors: "La

ll parties

licitor

ny questio

licitor

: "Nex

es a few words on the

ndant appea

Do you ow

nt: "Ye

this morning he paid ￡5 on account, and he agrees to pay ￡3

but you write defendant a letter stating that you

ndant appear

got no defence, a

ll do nothing until Monday

is understood you will

of all minor questions which may arise in a case before actual trial. Thus, "Order XIV," just referred to, enables a Master to enter judgment when the defence averred, even if true, would not be effectual, or when the defence is obviously frivolous, although, of course, the rights of the defendant are preserv

eing in ignorance of the tender. If the judgment be for defendant, or for more than the tender, that is the end of the matter. But if the judgment be for less than the tender, a large deduction for costs is made from the judgment, and i

o local conditions, but in any such adaptation, the general purpose should be kept in view, namely, that when a case appears upon a trial list it shall have already been pruned