The Lawyer Who Couldn't Help: A Woman’s Disillusionment with Seattle’s Legal System
In April 1877, a desperate woman seeking financial support from her absent husband walked into a Griswold Street lawyer's office, only to leave more skeptical of the legal profession than when she arrived.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
She Had Her Eyes Opened.
A downcast looking woman about 40 years old called at a lawyer’s office on Griswold street yesterday and asked the attorney if he could see to a little business for her. He replied that he could, and she explained.
"By husband went to the Black Hills over four months ago."
"Yes, I see. That is desertion, and good grounds for a divorce," replied the attorney.
"I don't want no divorce, sir. What I want is for him to send me some money."
"And he won't?"
"He hasn't sent any yet."
"And what can I do?" asked the lawyer.
"Put a suit on him and scare him into it," she answered.
He gloomily replied that the Court had no jurisdiction in such a case, and he could do nothing.
"Why, if I was a lawyer I could put a suit on him in an hour—I know I could," she protested.
He shook his head.
"Well, all right," she said, as she rose to go. "I thought lawyers had some get-up to 'em, and I always held my breath when one passed the house, but this thing has opened my eyes. You don't know any more than I do, sir, and I don't know anything. Good day, sir."
This 1877 anecdote captures a timeless frustration: the gap between legal theory and practical relief for ordinary people. While modern family law has evolved to handle spousal support and enforcement more directly, the sentiment of a citizen feeling powerless against bureaucratic or jurisdictional limitations remains a potent theme in contemporary discussions about access to justice.
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