The Place Of Young Wigs In The Legal Profession

Being a speech delivered by Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN at the Ebonyi State University Students’ Bar Council Grand Law Dinner/Award Night held on the 12th of November, 2021.

May I express my gratitude to the Bar Council of Ebonyi State University for inviting me as a Speaker to give a speech on the role of young lawyers in the legal profession. The chosen topic, is one which is very dear to my heart as it touches on what role young lawyers are expected to play upon joining the legal profession as well as x-raying the setbacks they encounter.

It is exciting to note that even before joining profession as lawyers, you are already keenly interested in knowing the roles you are expected to play in the profession as well as seeking to identify the setbacks or impediments they sometimes seek to hinder the ability of young lawyers to play these roles.

BACKGROUND

Who is a lawyer or person entitled to practise as a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria?. A person shall be entitled to practise as a barrister and solicitor in Nigeria. If , and only if, his name is on the roll. If an application under 2(2)(a) of the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA), is made to the Chief Justice by or on behalf of any person appearing to him to be entitled to practise as an advocate in any country where the legal system is similar to that of Nigeria; and the Chief Justice is of the opinion that it is expedient to permit that person to practise as a barrister for the purposes of proceedings described in the application, the Chief Justice may by warrant under his hand authorise that person, on payment to the registrar of such fee not exceeding fifty naira as may be specified in the warrant, to practise as a barrister for the purposes of those proceedings and of any appeal brought in connection with those proceedings.

A person for the time being exercising the functions of any of the following offices, that is to say–

the office of the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General or Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation or of a State;
such offices in the civil service of the Federation or of a State as the Attorney-General of the Federation or of the State, as the case may be, may by order specify, shall be entitled to practise as a barrister and solicitor for the purposes of that office.

A certificate signed by, or by a person authorised either generally or specially in that behalf by, any of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of the last foregoing subsection stating that a particular individual is exercising the functions of a particular office shall, without prejudice to any other means of proof, be conclusive proof for the purposes of that subsection that the individual is exercising the functions of that office; and any document purporting to be a certificate under this subsection shall be admitted in evidence and, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be such a certificate.

THE ROLE OF LAWYERS

Generally, professional associations of lawyers have a vital role to play in upholding professional standards and ethics, protecting their members from persecution and improper restrictions and infringements, providing legal services to all in need of them, and cooperating with governmental and other institutions in furthering the ends of justice and public interest. As the Preamble states: “adequate protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms to which all persons are entitled, be they economic, social and cultural, or civil and political, requires that all persons have effective access to legal services provided by an independent legal profession”.

To this end, the Basic Principles require States to provide – among other things – essential guarantees to ensure the professional functioning of individual lawyers and associations of lawyers. According to the UN Basic Principles on the role of lawyers, lawyers have some of the following duties and responsibilities:

They shall at all times maintain the honour and dignity of their profession as essential agents of the administration of justice.
The duties of lawyers towards their clients shall include:
Advising clients as to their legal rights and obligations, and as to the working of the legal system in so far as it is relevant to the legal rights and obligations of the clients;
Assisting clients in every appropriate way, and taking legal action to protect their interests;
Assisting clients before courts, tribunals or administrative authorities, where appropriate.
in protecting the rights of their clients and in promoting the cause of justice, they shall seek to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized by national and international law and shall at all times act freely and diligently in accordance with the law and recognized standards and ethics of the legal profession.
always loyally respect the interests of their clients.
The roles young lawyers or new wigs will play in the legal profession have a lot to do with the opportunities available for them and this in turn is dependent on the state of the country’s economy, their socio-economic background, mindset, determination, available opportunities etc. Lawyers play a significant and independent role in the administration of justice as well as in ensuring lawful compliance by persons and entities involved in commercial and financial activities. Rule 1 of the Rules of Profession Conduct for Legal Practitioners stipulates that a ‘A lawyer shall uphold and observe the rule of law, promote and foster the cause of justice, maintain a high standard of professional conduct, and shall not engage in any conduct which is unbecoming of a legal practitioner”. This is therefore the major role of every lawyer irrespective of age at the bar.

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) which has as its principal object to represent its member bars and law societies, whether they are full members (i.e. those of the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation), or associated or observer members, on all matters of mutual interest relating to the exercise of the profession of lawyering, the development of the law and practice pertaining to the rule of law and the administration of justice and substantive developments in the law itself, made the same statement when it stated that;

“In a society founded on respect for the rule of law the lawyer fulfills a special role. The lawyer’s duties do not begin and end with the faithful performance of what he or she is instructed to do so far as the law permits. A lawyer must serve the interests of justice as well as those whose rights and liberties he or she is trusted to assert and defend and it is the lawyer’s duty not only to plead the client’s cause but to be the client’s adviser. Respect for the lawyer’s professional function is an essential condition for the rule of law and democracy in society.”

In the preamble to the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Code of Professional Responsibility, it is stated that;

“Lawyers, as guardians of the law, play a vital role in the preservation of society. The fulfilment of this role requires an understanding by lawyers of their relationship with and function in our legal system. A consequent obligation of lawyers is to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct In fulfilling his professional responsibilities; a lawyer necessarily assumes various roles that require the performance of many difficult tasks. Not every situation which he may encounter can be foreseen, but fundamental ethical principles are always present to guide him. Within the framework of these principles, a lawyer must with courage and foresight be able and ready to shape the body of the law to the ever-changing relationships of society.”

NEW WIGS IN NIGERIA

An average of about 6,000 (six thousand) lawyers have consistently joined the legal profession every year, in the last five years. Many of these lawyers join the legal profession with a lot of expectations of how to contribute to the legal profession and also achieve financial independence now that they have arrived. Why would they settle for anything but the best, are they not ‘learned men’ and barristers and solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria”? A number of them will not hesitate to remind you to address them with respect and prefix their names with “Barrister” and of course add the suffix “Esq” to their names! After all, they earned it after at least six years of grueling legal education.

For some, these dreams will be realized immediately they are called to the bar, for some others it may take many years of tortuous practice to find their feet and “make it’. For some others, it is time to say good-bye and move on to other things as they never intended to be lawyers in the strict sense of it. Some others will be filled with regret as to why they bothered reading law. Some others will come out with dread, fearing that the future may be filled with uncertainties and pitfalls. For some, the fear of failure may fire them to success or even some other entrepreneurial activities.

The reality however is that not many new-wigs will ever get to play any role in the profession or get to do so with joy. The challenges or setbacks they encounter may either break their spirits, or remove all their illusions, or demoralize them or fire them on till they achieve success. Some will give up while some will rise no matter how many times they fail.

Those that seek to be employed either in private or public sector, will discover that the jobs are not readily available, difficult to get, or do not pay well or require long back-breaking hours. For a country with a very high unemployment rate, this simply means that a great percentage of these lawyers will very likely never be employed or given an opportunity to work in the sort of environment they want to, unless they are self-employed or go into other areas to earn a living. In 2021, the unemployment rate in Nigeria is estimated to reach 32.5 percent. This figure is projected to increase further in 2022. Chronological data show that the unemployment rate in Nigeria rose constantly in the past years. In the fourth quarter of 2020, over 33 percent of the labor force was unemployed. The estimate is confirmed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which put the unemployment figure at 33.5%. The NBS explained that the number of unemployed Nigerians rose to 23.19 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 on the back of job losses occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and its stifling impact on businesses during the period.

LINGERING ISSUES AND SIDE EFFECTS

I had to make reference to the unemployment rate to highlight one of the major challenges many lawyers joining the legal profession would face: unemployment, under-employment, loss of hope, demoralisation, change of heart or lack of supervised opportunity in the legal profession. Socio-economic conditions, insecurity, absence of engineering infrastructure, inability of the economy to sustain itself internally, exporting of jobs through pervasive import dependence and population explosion due to lack of birth and migration controls are among the factors considered responsible for the situation. I must hasten to add that these factors are not peculiar to Nigeria.

The legal profession will unfortunately not be insulated from these challenges. In a paper I presented in 2013, I stated that a guesstimate puts the number of young lawyers in our major cities that have or have had the opportunity of undergoing pupillage at less than 35%. Even though I did not address the number of young lawyers that have secured employment either in private or public, I have no doubt the number will be much lower now. The lack of sufficient opportunities for young lawyers to play a role and positively contribute their quota to the legal profession may ultimately lead to a decline in professional standards. Failure to also address welfare issues of lawyers, especially the young lawyers, means the profession can never train up enough young lawyers who will lead the legal profession and probably our nation. We may also breed a generation of lawyers who have scant interest in obeying the rules or ensuring that very high ethical standards are maintained in the legal profession. Let me digress a bit. Older practitioners complain about declining quality of lawyers being admitted to the Bar while the younger lawyers complain that that the older lawyers neither care about their welfare nor wish to give them adequate opportunities to learn.

Many young lawyers insist that there is a correlation between the standard of legal practice and the welfare of lawyers. The proponents of this view-point observe that if welfare issues of lawyers- starting from when they are law students to when they have been called to the Bar-, are properly addressed, that a marked improvement in their professional standard will be sustained. It may be difficult for the profession to achieve the ideal level of professionalism and standards at the Bar. They argue that lawyers who never had the opportunity of working under a senior lawyer are more likely to prepare ‘bad’ court processes, use the wrong language at the bar, dress improperly and breach rules of professional conduct. The argument seems to be that the failure to practically guide such young lawyers will lead to the emergence of lawyers who may fall into professional pit-falls because of the absence of a sound professional background.

In my view, this position is very justifiable. When I was the Chairman of NBA, Abuja Branch, I observed that a large percentage of the lawyers against whom petitions were received were young lawyers of less than five years post call, who were self-employed and had no history of working with a senior lawyer. I am not unmindful of their constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence, but I could not help but wonder at the coincidence of the preponderance of petitions against such class of lawyers. The above statement is therefore, without prejudice; as it is merely made as a case study as to the demographics of petitions and not as to their substance. I entirely agree that the opportunity for young lawyers to undergo pupillage, whether mandatory or otherwise, is inexorably linked with standards at the Bar. They are like Siamese twins; the death of one twin may inevitably lead to the death of the other.

SOME SETBACKS (IMPEDIMENTS, HINNDRANCES ETC)

As new wigs you may experience some of these set-backs:

1. Failure to be appreciated for the good work they do and being judged harshly for what they do not know or fail to do correctly.

2. Inability to get an employment or a well-paying one. Bleak job markets in and record numbers of job-cuts and not-very-attractive salaries

3. Deadlines, billing pressures, clients’ demands, working irregular and long hours, changing laws, and other demands all combine to make the practice of law one of the most stressful jobs

4. Lack of mentorship

5. The inability to afford or have access to some of the transformative effect of technology on the practice of law.

6. Difficulty in affording a residence, feeding oneself and daily upkeep

7. Slow pace of learning and failure of some seniors to teach one

8. How to manage or deal with clients, people, court staff colleagues etcetera

9. Inadequate knowledge of where to find clients.

10. Insufficient time for social activities and engagements.

11. Disappointment of failure to achieve immediate gratification, results, wealth or fame.

12. Changing legal paradigm resulting in lawyers no longer having a monopoly on the legal services field as some other professionals are inching into the legal services market.

It is easy to see from the above setbacks that the average new wig is at a great disadvantage. It is sad to see that most new wigs are either not equipped or do not yet have the confidence in their abilities to take on clients of their own. One would wonder where fruits of the labour of these new wigs who spent 6 years ‘in-training’ have gone. This brings me to my next point, the endemic poverty among new wigs.

Widespread poverty or economic hardships among new wigs is a great source of worry to new and old wigs alike, and indeed all stakeholders in the legal profession. This is a problem that goes hand in hand with lack of experience. After speaking to a couple of new wigs I gathered that there is a general understanding that a period of poverty is a prerequisite in legal practice. This period of economic disadvantage leaves new wigs in a dire situation as there is no denial that poverty is the sister of exploitation. New wigs often find themselves at a crossroads. Most have to choose between accepting the sometimes inhumane and stressful work conditions in order to gain the required work experience or dropping out of the profession altogether because of an inability to put food on the table. I cannot stress enough that it doesn’t have to be like this. As respected senior members of the Bar and Bench, we owe our juniors a duty to leave them this profession better than we met it. I hope that one day the number of economically-challenged new wigs will be reduced to the barest minimum.

Now, if your visits to courtrooms are frequent, you would observe that it is not uncommon for a new wig to fumble in his attempt at practice before the court. Most times, this fumbling ends with an eruption of loud laughter and embarrassment. This is not supposed to be so. A popular aphorism has it that ‘practice’, in the sense of doing something continuously and repeatedly, ‘makes perfect’. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr equally enthused antithetically that ‘the life of law has not been logic but experience’. These sayings mean that real law is law in practice, law as it is applied to real life situations – and set of facts – to determine rights and apportion obligations. How does the legal profession expect the new wigs to play positive roles, if they are constantly shut out of responsibility without enough space to grow.

Despite these set-backs, new wigs can always play whatever role you seek to play in the legal profession. Do not ever forget, that whoever dares, wins. Success is meant for those who diligently seek it. I will not conclude this speech without sharing with you an advice I have for some time now given to new wigs after their Call to the Bar ceremonies.

“Dear colleagues, congratulations on your call to the Nigerian Bar. This is a moment you have all laboured for and dreamt of. From the first time you had a dream to be a lawyer, you booked this date and your success in the Bar examination has guaranteed you a place in the profession. Some of your friends were not so fortunate. I felicitate with you.

As you join the legal profession, I enjoin you to serve humanity and stand out firmly for justice. Your call to bar is a new start. You are no longer who or what you used to be. Each one of you now acquires a new age and a new status. You are now Ministers in the Temple of Justice.

The legal profession is undoubtedly the noblest of all professions. It is as well a challenging profession which imposes on you a general responsibility to uphold and observe the rule of law, promote and foster the cause of justice, maintain a high standard of professional conduct, and not engage in any conduct which is unbecoming of a legal practitioner. Your call to the Bar is therefore not an end, but the beginning of the professional journey of a lifetime. The way you begin and or commit to go in the profession will be a signpost of where you will end.

The legal profession is like a pyramid. Never worry that in climbing a pyramid, you would likely start at the base. The race to professional excellence starts this day. The profession offers several vistas. It depends on you to decide which path to toe and endeavour to master the skills and exercise patience to blossom in your chosen direction.

You should never be deterred by tales of how difficult and almost impossible it is to get to the top or to succeed in the profession. All lawyers who set out on this journey which you embark on today went down this same road. The road may appear difficult, daunting and insurmountable, but you will master and succeed in it. With focus, commitment, hard work, perseverance and grace of God, you will surely excel and get to the top of the pyramid.

To get to the zenith of your chosen path these virtues are very necessary – hard work, trustworthiness, patience, integrity, perseverance and honesty. Imbibing these virtues will sustain you in the profession as the profession punishes any erring lawyer for any contravention of any of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners or failure to perform any of the duties imposed by the Rules.

As you commence this walk which I have no doubt will someday lead you to the pinnacle of the pyramid, always remember to 1) find a mentor to emulate; 2) value your beginning; 3) read more; 4) write better; 5) acquire requisite skills for your chosen area of practice; 6) learn to listen especially when addressed; 7) observe and internalize proceedings; (8) dress well; 9) speak audibly and politely; 10) invest your money wisely; 11) learn to be humble; 12) respect clients, judicial, seniors, elders, employers and all whom you come across; 13) protect your reputation; and above all 14) keep yourselves abreast with developments in whatever you choose to apply your qualification to.

You can always reach out to others for advice and guidance on areas of practice and management, tailored to your individual needs in the profession.

I assure you, you will never regret your decision to be a lawyer as long as you understand that your destiny lies in your hands. I believe you will work diligently work towards your set goals.

I wish you success. You can be a success story. You surely, will. The sky is wide enough to accommodate all the stars.

I look forward to meeting you in the continuous quest to open up legal markets to our colleagues and to defend human rights while supporting our members within the domestic legal market’.

CONCLUSION:

My dear friends, the future is bright for us all and inasmuch as older members of the Bar must continue to and constantly be reminded to do our best to promote the welfare of those coming after us. I must not fail to drum it into your consciousness that despite the growing army of lawyers in the country, the future is becoming brighter and the prospects of what could be achieved with a law degree are becoming increasingly infinite. You must therefore choose your own path and set a standard for yourself so that you are not found wanting and in breach of the ethical codes of conduct for legal practitioners.

A legal professional must therefore strive for excellence and ensure that opportunities are not missed, trifled with or ignored. A practice may not achieve excellence or run efficiently if it is not run like a business. Always remember that an opportunity is a “fleeting moment”. It is a moment that must be grasped (by the tuft of hair on the personified forehead of the fleeting opportunity); otherwise, the moment is gone and cannot be re-captured (personified by the back of head being bald)”.

Thanks for listening.

Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, FCIArb (UK) LLM (Jos), LLM (Lazarsky)