【作者】伊茲比奇,T,M.
【內(nèi)容提要】
The medieval legal profession was not made up of a single type of practitioner.Learned advocates who knew the Roman law, canon law, or both worked with less learned procurators who spoke for their clients but might have learned the law through practice. The judges before whom they practiced might or might not be trained jurists. Those who were not jurists might be advised by a legal staff or by jurists who provided written advice (consilia) for a fee. Once canon law adopted the procedures of Roman law, with their emphasis on written documents, notaries and clerks also became essential to the practice of law. They, too, had opportunities for training and career advancement. All legal practitioners could consult a growing body of laws, treatises, and books of formulas used in litigation. A sense of corporate identity and professional ethics also grew among legal practitioners, and law faculties set an example of a corporate culture. All lawyers and notaries knew that these careers could lead to wealth and position, but criticism of lawyers grew up with the profits of legal practice. The very intricacy of legal process made it seem like a briar patch from which the uninformed litigant might not emerge unscathed.