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Show A FORTUNE FOR ONE WORD. As Itumrn.e Foe l'ald nator Evarts for Nimplj Naylag Kew York Journal. Two huudred and sixty thousand dollars dol-lars seems a large amount of money to be paid as a fee to a lawyer. This is the sum, however, that W. N. Cromwell, of No. 45 Wall street, received re-ceived as his fee for settling up tha affairs of Decker, Howell & Co. It is tho largest fee ever paid, so far as cr.n be ascertained. No lawyer can remember any such sum ever having been paid before, though, of course, it is ipiitii possible that as much or mora has uceu paid and the fact never became be-came public. Fifty-thousand dollar fees are common. com-mon. They are often paid by big corporations cor-porations for legal advice, the correct-Desk correct-Desk or faultiness of which means a gain or loss of millions. No lawyer will give his advice in an affair involving involv-ing enormous sums of money or the existence ex-istence of a great corporation without receiving remuneration iu proportion to the amount or interest involved. The personal liberty of a wealthy man is often worth $."0,000 to him, anil a lirst class criminal lawyer, who succeeds suc-ceeds in securing to a wealthy client his personal liberty or his acrpiittal on a grave charge, expects remuneration in proportion to tbe wealth of hisclient. He gets it, too. There are several instances of I2."0,000 having been paid to lawyers as a single fe. The most startling case was that in which ex-Senator W. H. Evarts, of Evarts, Choate & lieaman, received a quarter million dollars for an opinion 11 a ticklish legal point. A great corporation cor-poration sought his advice. The lawyer stated the case and added that the opiuion of .Senator Evarts would be final with them and that they would adapt their future course according to his advice. 11a theu put a question to which the ex-sonator answered sinmlv: , "Yes." His bill was SMO.OOO. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars dol-lars for just one word! Yes, and cheap it jthat price. Had the corporation gone to a less reliable lawyer and received re-ceived "no" for an answer, it would have cost them many millions. There is another anique feature of this instance. It is thu only case ou record iu which Senator Evarts is known to have said simply "yes." His sentences are usually long and involved, in-volved, but in this case one word sufficed, suf-ficed, and he earned his enormous foe. Another fee of a quarter million dul-lars dul-lars was that paid by the sugar trust to John E. Parsons for drawing up thu agreement tinder which they reorganized reorgan-ized under the laws of the state of New Jersey. This was also a case needing lawyer who could not make a mistake. The smallest error would have been fatal to the trust. It may have been an easy matter for Mr. Parsons Par-sons to draw tip that agreement, or it may not, but supposing that it was, tha loDg years of tedious training and study that were necessary before he arrived at the state of proficiency which enabled en-abled hitu to draw up a document that was liro proof in every way must be taken into consideration in computing the value of his services. That tho agreement was cheap at the I price was abundantly demonstrated by the futile efforts of the senate investigating investi-gating committee to gain auy more information in-formation about the trust's affairs than the oilicers of the trust saw lit to give them. An agreemunt of that sort is worth paying well for. |