Law not punishment, but corrective measure
By THERESA ONWUGHALU
Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Barrister Olaseinde Karim was called to the Bar in 1983. Currently, he is the principal partner at Alhaji Okunnu of Femi Okunnu & Co., Onilewura Chambers, Victoria Island, Lagos. A graduate of University of Lagos, Karim said that lawyers are to give their clients the best.

Why Law
It was not that I set out to study Law. I think it has to do with the grades in school. After secondary school at the Baptist Academy, Lagos, I went for A/Level. I was fortunate to have come out with enough grade in art subjects to read Law. That was why I read Law.

Tutelage
After graduating from University of Lagos, I went to the Law School. I served in Kaduna. It was there I met the like of the late Gbenga Atoki, of Gbenga Atoki & Co.; The late Segun Omotayo Esq. and the late Mr. Gbemiga Abegunde, both of Abegun Omotayo & Co. God bless their memory. These were people I met in practice. They showed me the way. The initial trainning I got from the three astute lawyers was sound. They were articulate, very good in their work and positive guys. Unfortunately, they are not around anymore.

Appearance in court
My first day in court was normal. I didn’t go alone. I went with Mr. Segun Omotayo just to feel the court room and how things were done. I came out with a positive vibes. Thereafter, I went alone. In fact, the first court session I attended was that of Chief Judge of Kaduna State then, Justice Muhammed. He was a nice man. He encouraged young lawyers. He knew we were young and inexperienced; so he assisted us. He was not one of those who made noise or shouted on someone. He assisted us. He was gentle.

Cases are not determined in a day. During NYSC, you don’t talk about winning cases. You go to argue the motions. Trials take time. It could take years. During service year, I was not involved, in any trial, but after service, I was thrown into the real work. They would just give a file and say, ‘go to Port Harcourt or Sapele or Ajakuta.’

Law firm
In practice we try to do what our contemporaries do. I know, to a larger extend, we are making progress. We have computerised this place. We have opened offices in Abuja and Port Harcourt.
It takes quite much, in terms of money to do that. In those days, computers were popular. Once you have a typewriter, a clerk, secretary and maybe a junior you were okay. These days, the briefs are not even there. You have to compete with so many lawyers. Yes, there are so many campanies springing up everyday, but where are the briefs? I believe that there are too many lawyers chasing the same brief. So, one needs to have an edge, in terms of practice, technology, quality of staff and quality output.

How to manage a law firm
Management is a philosophy. You have to decide what you want from your staff; what you want from your lawyers, how you want them to react to issues and to yourself, how you want them to react to clients and visitors. For me, that is management. This is because each time a lawyer steps out of your office, he is representing your name.

Also, whatever he does or says has your stamp. If you don’t train him in your own way, he becomes a bad ambassador. And that wouldn’t speak well of you. It is estremely difficult to change an adult into the kind of person you want. We are able to train some to do things the way we want. Some are naturally good. They don’t need too much maneouvring. They don’t need too much training or telling because they are well brought up and trained. It is easy to get those people to toe your line.

Lawyers are not liars
I know that lawyers are never liars. Lawyers only interpret the law. They work on what they see, what they know and what is presented to them. To you, it may sound like lying, but there is no reason for a lawyer to lie. If somebody is accused, for instance, of murder, and the guy says no, I didn’t do it, or I did it but this was why I did it, of course, he must tell, his lawyer exactly what he knows because that is the only way he would get out of it.

What is left for the lawyer is to look at the law; what the law provides on such cases for one to get a conviction. So, he looks at the prosecutor and expect him to follow the steps laid down by law to get a conviction of his client. If the prosecutor fails to follow the laid down procedure of getting a conviction, it is my obligation to my client to make sure that he gets off the hook because the other man has failed to do his job. The accused is presumed innocent until he is proved guilty. If the other lawyer can not satisfy those conditions, then the man is not guilty. The other party can not, therefore, say that lawyer lied. Lied about what? It is good to always have a competent lawyer and don’t make false statement under pressure.

Honesty
In this kind of profession we are in, you must give 100 percent honest, especially to your clients. There is always a time frame for everything. You must train your lawyers to meet deadline. For example, filing papers in court, going to court, writing letters, meeting with clients etc. All these make a law firm. You must give your clients your best and your best is measured in the timely manner you deliver.

People and law
Law is not punitive. It is a corrective measure. It is supposed to rehabilitate a man, change him and make him a better person. The important thing to know is that the man did something wrong. He recognises that he did something wrong. He amends his way, and prepares to live according to laws of the land.