Page 140 - the-trial

connections, that’s where the real value of taking counsel
lies. Now K. will most likely have already learned from his
own experience that, among its very lowest orders, the court
organisation does have its imperfections, the court is strict-
ly closed to the public, but staff who forget their duty or who
take bribes do, to some extent, show where the gaps are.
This is where most lawyers will push their way in, this is
where bribes are paid and information extracted, there have
even, in earlier times at least, been incidents where docu-
ments have been stolen. There’s no denying that some
surprisingly favourable results have been attained for the
accused in this way, for a limited time, and these petty ad-
vocates then strut to and fro on the basis of them and attract
new clients, but for the further course of the proceedings it
signifies either nothing or nothing good. The only things of
real value are honest personal contacts, contacts with high-
er officials, albeit higher officials of the lower grades, you
understand. That is the only way the progress of the trial
can be influenced, hardly noticeable at first, it’s true, but
from then on it becomes more and more visible. There are,
of course, not many lawyers who can do this, and K. has
made a very good choice in this matter. There were probably
no more than one or two who had as many contacts as Dr.
Huld, but they don’t bother with the company of the law-
yers’ room and have nothing to do with it. This means they
have all the less contact with the court officials. It is not at
all necessary for Dr. Huld to go to the court, wait in the
ante-rooms for the examining judges to turn up, if they
turn up, and try to achieve something which, according to

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