Advice To A Young Lawyer by Joseph Story laser engraved on tanned leather makes a wonderful gift for a graduate lawyer passing the bar exam and lawyer’s office decor.
Advice to a Young Lawyer
BE brief, be pointed; let your matter stand
Lucid in order, solid, and at hand;
Spend not your words on trifles, but condense;
Strike with the mass of thought, not drops of sense;
Press to the close with vigor, once begun, 5
And leave, (how hard the task!) leave off, when done.
Who draws a labored length of reasoning out,
Puts straws in line, for winds to whirl about;
Who drawls a tedious tale of learning o’er,
Counts but the sands on ocean’s boundless shore. 10
Victory in law is gained, as battles fought,
Not by the numbers, but the forces brought.
What boots success in skirmish or in fray,
If rout and ruin following close the day?
What worth a hundred posts maintained with skill, 15
If these all held, the foe is victor still?
He, who would win his cause, with power must frame
Points of support, and look with steady aim;
Attack the weak, defend the strong with art,
Strike but few blows, but strike them to the heart; 20
All scattered fires but end in smoke and noise,
The scorn of men, the idle play of boys.
Keep, then, this first great precept ever near,
Short be your speech, your matter strong and clear,
Earnest your manner, warm and rich your style, 25
Severe in taste, yet full of grace the while;
So may you reach the loftiest heights of fame,
And leave, when life is past, a deathless name.
— Joseph Story
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
SIZE, MATERIAL AND FRAME
Leather art is 8 x 10 inches and it comes framed in a dark brown wood frame. No glass is provided as leather needs air to breathe.
APPROVAL PROCESS
THERE IS NO APPROVAL PROCESS ON THIS ITEM. What you see is what you get
ABOUT THE LEATHER
We cut pieces of leather from full hides of leather. Made in the USA and humanely sourced as a by-product of the food industry, they are natural and environmentally friendly.