Parish courts

It cannot be said that the legal profession in the provinces in general, and in district towns in particular, is considered a serious matter, that is, an occupation worthy of respect. A lawyer is looked upon as a person “without specific occupations”, as a loiterer, in other words, as a person from whom nothing “worthwhile” can be expected.

This view of the provincial bar is reflected, of course, in the social position of the lawyers themselves, which is far from enviable: dependence on all sorts of accidents, on everyone and everything. This view follows from the very order of things: a lawyer in the eyes of provincial townsfolk is nothing more than a worker whom anyone and everyone can hire whenever they want (except, of course, the peasant, who bows at the lawyer’s feet for his own money to his fill). A lawyer in a county town is always between many fires, and if he discovers some carelessness in handling them, he can get badly burned...

A case will happen in the city, for example, something like this: some “twitch” Pogankin, with drunken eyes, will blow a kiss from the street through the window to some Mrs. Von-Glaz, and the husband of this mistress will give Pogankin a fatherly admonition for such a grave insult to his wife, that is, he will draw blood from his teeth with his own hands. The whole city will immediately be divided into two parties.

- If our wives are insulted like that!!! - some exclaim.

- Why, however, was there to let blood from the teeth! - others argue.

Meanwhile, a complaint is filed against the same unfortunate “twitcher” Pogankin, regardless of the bloodletting, for insulting Mrs. Von-Glaz by the action of “blowing a kiss.” If Pogankin turns to the district attorney with a request for protection, will the latter act honestly by refusing to defend him on the sole grounds that he only has three rubles in his pocket?

Meanwhile, Mr. Von-Glaz invites the “provincial” intercessor to defend him, who, with great triumph, wins his case. Pogankin, for insulting him by the action of “blowing a kiss,” is put on “stay watch,” and Mr. Von-Glaz, taking into account this, that, and finally the fact that he acted out of necessary self-defense, is shown only the unseemliness of his act. And then the district lawyer, who dared to take on Pogankin’s defense for three rubles, indulges in general desecration.

In general, if you have entrusted a case to a lawyer, then God forbid he should meet with the “opposite side”! Or exchange two or three words with her relatives, or even just bow. Now a rumor will spread: “He wants to switch to the other side” - and the principal will begin to threaten to take away the business. The lawyer is required to be in the same hostile relationship with the opposing party as his client is.

To show where the provincial bar stands in Rus', I will point out one more example. It often happened to me to travel on railways. A neighbor would talk, and one of the first questions, almost immediately after “And may I ask, where are you going?”, would suggest: “What are you doing, may I ask?”

“I’m a lawyer,” I say. And now I see some kind of nasty smile on the lips of an inquisitive neighbor. So I want to tell him that it means that I see “robbed a martyr” in front of me. And he will certainly make various barbs until you leave him, in order to avoid a scandal.

(“Notes of the Fatherland.” 1873. No. 5. pp. 1–8)