Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1978
Publication Information
35 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 727 (1978)
Abstract
This article is about the process by which a person makes up his mind. In literature, the making up of a character's mind is a stage on which an author lets you know about his people and about his time. An example is Huckleberry Finn deciding whether to report Jim, his companion and a runaway slave. I propose to consider another example of a literary character making up his mind-the story of Septimus Harding and the sinecure, in The Warden, a quaint Victorian ecclesiastical tale by Anthony Trollope.
Lawyers spend hours helping their clients make up their minds. The process of aiding clients with decision-making is the deepest process in which lawyers are involved. I think it is the lawyer's most difficult task. My theory is that a Victorian novelist can teach lawyers something about making up one's mind, and something about being of help to those who have minds to be made up. That lesson would be a lesson in legal counseling. My object here is to present Septimus Harding and his creator as teachers of lawyers.
Recommended Citation
Thomas L. Shaffer,
A Lesson from Trollope for Counselors at Law,
35 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 727 (1978).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/372
Comments
This article was originally published as Thomas L. Shaffer, A Lesson from Trollope for Counselors at Law, 35 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 727 (1978) , and has been reproduced with permission.