14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the letter of the law stands between a poor client and a fair result?
In Arthur Cheney Train’s By Advice of Counsel, trouble finds its way to the small New York firm of Tutt and Tutt. Senior partner Ephraim Tutt is lean, rumpled, and quick-witted. His clients’ problems may look small from outside, but everything feels larger to the people caught in them. He cares more about justice than a strict reading of the rules.
These short stories follow clients and puzzles through office planning and courtroom scenes. Tutt, Ephraim’s more cautious partner, worries about the accounts, while secretary Miss Wiggin keeps the office running. Train brings a former New York prosecutor’s knowledge to this world of judges, juries, clerks, and clients, mixing dry humor, clever procedure, and plain human kindness.
What you’ll discover
- Meet Tutt and Tutt Step into a small law office where contrasting partners face a parade of troubled clients.
- Cleverness meets kindness Watch Ephraim Tutt turn his sharp legal mind toward fair results for poor clients.
- Rules meet real people Explore the gap between general laws and the lives that never fit them neatly.
- Courtroom wit at work Enjoy procedural tricks and dry humor without losing sight of the people at stake.
- The pleasure of anecdotes Follow each fresh puzzle through careful planning toward a neat, smile-raising turn.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like courtroom cleverness, old New York streets, quick talk, and kind, shrewd heroes who outwit people who deserve it.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An innocent boy meets the machine
- Good manners can hide a swindler
- Matching stories invite a closer look
- Conscience faces an order to speak
- Legal learning meets courtroom fear
- A lawful choice can lack honor
- Petty laws become weapons against neighbors
- A jury encounters the person accused
- Written rules meet living people
Who’s who
- Ephraim TuttThe tall, shabby senior partner of Tutt & Tutt, who defends the weak and uses clever law to protect them.
- Samuel TuttHis rounder, quicker junior partner, who prefers the safe legal answer and often leaves the moral question to others.
- Minerva WigginThe managing clerk, who pours tea, keeps the firm honest, and argues for conscience.
- Tony MathusekA sixteen-year-old boy wrongly arrested for a broken window, who only wants to reach his mother.
- Raphael HoganA smooth, kindly looking lawyer who preys on the poor and keeps them in his debt.
- Althea BeekmanA proud Fifth Avenue lady who loves the law, visits prisoners, and faces a test of honor.
- Caput MagnusA vain assistant district attorney who writes perfect indictments and dreads ever speaking in court.
- Danny LowryAn old Irish horse doctor who can calm any animal and cannot read a word.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
By Advice of Counsel in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
By Advice of Counsel
by Arthur Cheney Train · 1921
A camel climbs a tenement stair in New York while Mr. Tutt later agrees to defend the man who owns it.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“the human heart is a damn sight bigger than the human conscience”
In short
What happens when a brick meets a boy in a red sweater? In the first tale, sixteen-year-old Tony Mathusek is seized by a policeman, and a whole machine of grafters starts to turn around him.
By Advice of Counsel at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 35 min3 h 35 min fast, 5 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 64,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1921by Arthur Cheney Train
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A brick, a red sweater, a wrong boy
The first tale, The Shyster, opens with Terry McGurk throwing a brick through Froelich's butcher shop window and slipping away. Tony Mathusek, who happens to wear a red sweater too, runs straight into the arms of Officer Delany. Tony is a good son, and he did nothing at all.
Delany does not care about the truth. He wrenches the boy's arm and tells Tony to keep quiet. The author explains that Delany is no monster. He is a small wheel in a large system of favors, free roast beef, and small envelopes.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Train, Arthur Cheney. By Advice of Counsel. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/by-advice-of-counsel.
Train, A. C. (2026). By advice of counsel. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/by-advice-of-counsel (Original work published 1921)
Train, Arthur Cheney. By Advice of Counsel. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/by-advice-of-counsel.
@book{train2026by,
author = {Train, Arthur Cheney},
title = {By Advice of Counsel},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/by-advice-of-counsel},
note = {First published 1921}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about By Advice of Counsel
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is By Advice of Counsel about?
It is a set of linked tales about the New York law firm of Tutt & Tutt. Each story follows a case, from a boy wrongly arrested to a camel in an attic, and shows how the old lawyer Ephraim Tutt defends people.
Who is Ephraim Tutt?
He is the tall, shabby, kindly senior partner of Tutt & Tutt. He smokes thin cigars, quotes old books, and uses every clever trick of law to protect the poor, the innocent, and the wronged.
Who wrote By Advice of Counsel and when?
Arthur Cheney Train wrote it. He was a New York lawyer and prosecutor, and the stories draw on his courtroom experience. They are set around the years just after the First World War.
The author
Arthur Cheney Train
1875–1945 · American novelist and lawyer
Arthur Cheney Train (1875–1945) was an American lawyer and writer. He was born in Boston and died in New York City. He worked as an assistant district attorney in New York. He wrote legal fiction in the early twentieth century, including By Advice of Counsel and stories featuring Mr. Tutt.
“the human heart is a damn sight bigger than the human conscience”
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
