Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another: Debate thy cause with thy neighbor - Take the advice of friends. Let both sides attend to their counsels; but do not tell the secret of thy business to any. After squandering your money away upon lawyers, both they and the judge will at last leave it to be settled by twelve of your fellow citizens! O the folly of going to law! O the blindness of men, and the rapacity of unprincipled lawyers!
On this subject I cannot but give the following extract from Sir John Hawkins's Life of Dr. Johnson, which he quotes from Mr. Selwin, of London: "A man who deliberates about going to law should have,
1. A good cause;
2. A good purse;
3. A good skillful attorney;
4. Good evidence;
5. Good able counsel;
6. A good upright judge;
7. A good intelligent jury; and with all these on his side, if he have not,
8. Good luck, it is odds but he miscarries in his suit." O the glorious uncertainty of the law!