LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lawyers: Cases
built 177 days ago
The earliest people who could be described as "lawyers" were probably the orators of ancient Athens (see History of Athens). However, Athenian orators faced serious structural obstacles. First, there was a rule that individuals were supposed to plead their own cases, which was soon bypassed by the increasing tendency of individuals to ask a "friend" for assistance.[155] Fortunately, around the middle of the fourth century BC, the Athenians disposed of the perfunctory request for a friend.[156] Second, a more serious obstacle, which the Athenian orators never completely overcame, was the rule that no one could take a fee to plead the cause of another. This law was widely disregarded in practice, but was never abolished, which meant that orators could never present themselves as legal professionals or experts.[157] They had to uphold the legal fiction that they were merely an ordinary citizen generously helping out a friend for free, and ... they could never organize into a real profession — with professional associations and titles and all the other pomp and circumstance — like their modern counterparts.[158] Therefore, if one narrows the definition to those men who could practice the legal profession openly and legally, then the first lawyers would have to be the orators of ancient Rome.
Source:
At age 35, Thomas Goldstein has accomplished more than many veteran lawyers, having argued 16 cases in seven years before the Supreme Court, winning his last four straight. His most recent victory was Georgia v. Randolph, an important search and seizure case.
Source:
Often, lawyers brief a court in writing on the issues in a case before the issues can be orally argued. They may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law while drafting legal papers and preparing for oral argument.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Cases