North Dakota Law Review/Volume 1/Number 3/Extracts from Address

EXTRACTS FROM ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT CUPLER TO
MINNESOTA BAR ASSOCIATION

Some reference was made in the January Bar Briefs concerning the visit of President Cupler to the meeting of the Minnesota Bar Association. The space of this publication is too limited to permit printing of the address in full, even at this time. The following are some of the observations made by the President on that occasion, and represent, in part, his view of the benefits that have resulted from the passage of the Bar Act:

“The Association is more democratic. Every lawyer and every judge is a member and has an equal voice in the affairs of the Association. There is now no room for the charge that the Association is run by any group or clique of lawyers.

“By reason of the fact that every lawyer and judge is a member of the Association, social intercourse is improved, and a more friendly feeling exists among the lawyers as well as between the Bench and the Bar.

“There has been a marked increase in the interest shown by the members of the bar and by the bench in the affairs of the Bar Association. There has been a better attendance at annual meetings; and there have been better programmes.. At our last meeting many of the district judges attended, and the entire Supreme Court was there and participated in the sessions, several of the judges reading papers, and entering into the discussions.

“My observance has been that our plan of organization automatically raises the ethical standards of the profession. There is an instinctive desire on the part of every member of the bar to conform to the high ideals of the profession, and to the code of ethics prescribed by the organization to which he belongs. We have found that by giving the association the power to discipline its members the work of the so-called “Grievance Committee” is not increased but on the contrary minor infractions disappear, and the State Bar Board is called upon to act only occasionally, and then in the most serious derelictions. I really believe that the fears expressed by some of the members of your Bar to this feature of your proposed bill have no real foundation in fact.”