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THE OLD
MEMBERS OF THE CALHOUN AND KALAMAZOO
COUNTY BARS BY A. D. P. VAN BUREN
Van Arman seemed to possess the lawyer's art by natural instinct. He evinced that art in a masterly degree in fitting a case for trial. No one could surpass him in training witnesses for their part in the court room, or in managing them when on the witness stand. And he was equally skillful in handling witnesses on the other side. He sometimes made them more serviceable than his opponent did. He had a skill in cross-examination which few lawyer can rival. It may be doubted whether he had an equal at
the liar in the mystery of cross-examination. It is certain that in what may be called legal diplomacy, in all that pertains to the management of a difficult case out of court, on which success in court depends, Van Annan was at the head of his profession. The old habitues of the court room enjoyed Van Annan's conducting a trial as highly as they did a play in the theater. The examination of witnesses is usually the dullest part of the trial to the. spectators. But they would "go over to the court room" to hear Van Arman in the examination of witnesses, as well as to hear him "sum up the case. " He was a superb trial lawyer, as he had the love of contest in him. The most valuable attainment of a lawyer is the art of asking questions. Lincoln, like all great lawyers, asked but few questions, but they covered the whole subject under consideration. The world has had but one master of this art—Socrates—and although he has left no successor, the legal fraternity has produced the only proficients in this art, or the best we have. And among them Van Arman held a high rank. His impromptu speeches to the court, on some point of evidence, were masterpieces of their kind.
Michigan
Page 18
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