"Sharks! No, worse! Leeches! But not the good kind that suck out bad humours, oh no. They're leeches that drain your coffers and leave you nothing to show for it."
- —Stefan Bachler, Merchant[2a]
Lawyer
Lawyers, also known as Litigants,[3a] make a long study of the processes of law in the Old World and of legal systems in general.[1a][2a] They offer a variety of services, including representation in court, interpretation of law, and composition of legal documents.[2a][3a]
Lawyers are professionals and occupy a fairly high station in life,[1a][2a] but are generally disliked, except by those in need of their services.[3a]
Most lawyers come from a wealthy enough background to afford the university education common in the profession. Lawyers from poorer backgrounds learn the trade through apprenticeship, a practice particularly widespread among the advocates of the Cults of Verena and Sigmar.[2a] However, being a litigant requires a great deal of knowledge, about Empire-wide and local law, as well as day-to-day judicial affairs. Thus, even the lowest-born lawyer is considered a person of letters.[3a] Lawyers offer their clients many services, including legal advice, law interpretation, and advocacy in a court. Some act as mediators between two opposing factions, a practice particularly favoured by Halflings. The most experienced lawyers join the ranks of the Barristers, the only practitioners of law allowed to argue in the higher appeals courts of the Empire's city-states.[2a]
A lawyer's most prized possession is their reputation - their own reputations as lawyers and the reputation of their home town and its legal system. It is this reputation, above everything else, that ensures the lawyer a steady stream of clients and a steady stream of fees and many Lawyers will be extremely wary of taking on a case which they are not sure they can win. Some junior lawyers, however, may be willing to take the risk of fighting an unusual case or one which is likely to excite public interest, for winning such a case will increase their reputation and professional standing. Although legal systems differ from town to town and region to region, they have many aspects in common and a lawyer will be able to cope with an unfamiliar legal system after a little research.[1a]
Affiliations[]
Litigant
Lawyers make it their business to know all kinds of professionals, from scribes and scholars to tradesmen and skilled labourers, to merchants, politicians, burghers and even a noble or two.[4a]
Successful litigants have a wide network of associates upon whom they rely for advice and services. Litigants frequently employ messengers or coachmen to carry summonses, bills, payments or contracts across town while they themselves are occupied with other matters.[4a]
On rare occasions, it may profit a litigant to employ the services of a bounty hunter, or some other person of an unsavoury nature, in the successful pursuit of a case, or to help obtain evidence which may exonerate a client.[4a]
Little Known Facts[]
Litigants represent nobles and wealthy private personages before a magistrate in court. They have spent years learning the laws of the Empire and the local customs particular to the region they are practising in and are adept at reading moods and spinning convincing arguments in favour of their clients.[4a]
Hiring a litigant is far from cheap, and the vast majority of people in the Empire can’t afford to do so. However, the rich will gladly pay a skilled litigant to help them avoid the unpleasantness of prison. As a result, litigants are hated by the common classes, and are the popular butt of many sneering, bawdy jokes.[4a]
Litigants not only need to be experts on the law, they also need to be familiar with the magistrates before whom they must argue their client’s cases. Cultivating a modest acquaintance with a magistrate can make all the different when presenting a case. Knowing which palms can and cannot be successfully greased can also have a striking effect on the outcome of a trial.[4a]
Travelling litigants tend to be even more rare than travelling magistrates; for one thing, litigants rely heavily on their network of experts to help them, and these tend to be most easily accessed from a fixed location. This means that only the larger cities and towns will have litigants’ services available.[4a]