| Lawyers have more respect
now than during military rule
By MEDINAT ADAMSON, PATRICIA EMODI and LAWRENCE NWALI
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
 |
•
Aliu Mutairu
Photo: SunNews Publishing
|
|
A legal practitioner, Mr. Aliu Mutairu, has confessed that
junior lawyers are not treated well during their pupillage.
He, therefore, suggested that pupillage should be scrapped.
Background
My name is Aliu Mutairu from Okpella, Etsako East, Edo State.
I attended Etsako Primary School and Auchi Comprehensive High
School. I had a Diploma in Social Works from the Ambrose Ali
University and later did a direct entry, where I got admission
to study Law in the same university.
I couldn’t go in to study Law immediately after my secondary
education because after my JAMB, my father told me to fight
for admission myself. I didn’t know anybody and the
admission didn’t come forth, so someone advised me to
take a direct entry to study social works that it will make
it easier for me to get the admission in future to study Law
which actually did. After my Diploma, I found out it wasn’t
easy to get an admission to do a degree, so I took another
JAMB exam to study Accounting, but at the end of the day,
I got the admission to study Law as well as passed the JAMB
to study Accounting but chose Law.
Motivation
I had three courses in mind, which were Accounting, Law and
Medicine, but my father wanted me to study Medicine. But while
in secondary school, my Chemistry teacher, who was a family
friend, did not make things easy for me. She was lazy and
wouldn’t come to class, so I didn’t like her.
I started going to other schools to collect their Chemistry
materials, so that I could read. When she noticed this, she
became angry and forced me to copy her own notes, but the
notes I had with me was almost the same with her’s,
so I refused to copy her’s. Whenever a question was
asked in class I answered. This made her feel bad and she
stopped me from attending her classes.
I wanted to prove to her that without chemistry I could succeed
in life, so I put in for Social Sciences in my ‘O’level
exams.
Another thing that motivated me was my family. I come from
a polygamous family, where my father had three wives and 16
children. I discovered a lawyer was needed in the family and
my brothers were all in the sciences, I decided to be the
lawyer.
SAN award in Nigeria
There is a committee called the Legal Practitioners Privileges
Committee, set up for the purpose of choosing SANs in the
country. I believe they are doing a good job because it requires
a process and after a person is chosen, which is usually an
open thing, there are publications and if you feel the person
is not fit for the position you can voice out or write a petition
against the person.
I don’t think it has ever happened.
Lawyers as liars
Lawyers are not liars but ministers in the temple of justice.
They are upholders in the rule of law. People misunderstand
lawyers. In a matter, there are always two people involved,
each with a lawyer. The lawyers make their points based on
law and it is the duty of the judge to decide on whose favour
the matter should be.
The reason they say lawyers are liars is because at times
people who commit murder are allowed to go because of one
reason or the other. It may be that the person committed the
offence to defend himself, but because the person was allowed
to go even after he committed the murder, they say the lawyer
lied to defend his client.
Nigerian Judges
To me, Nigerian Judges are doing well. Gone are the days when
you hear that judges reach decisions out of fear. This was
very rampant during the military regime.
The average man in Nigeria is happy with the kind of judges
we have. You find out that both the plaintiff and the defendant
say ‘we have hope in the judiciary.’
You can see a good example with the things happening in the
country. Thank God for the kind of president we have today,
who has decided to join the lawyers as upholders of the law.
Pupilage
The experience I had during my pupillage was not a good one
at all. I think that the Nigeria Bar Association is not doing
enough to take care of the welfare of new wig (junior lawyers).
When I was called to the Bar, I came to Lagos and got an employment
close to Cele bus stop. I was paid N15, 000 monthly. I lived
at Agege and the money was not enough for my fare, let alone
feeding. I worked there for only a month and left to join
one of my friends who was called to Bar the same day with
me. I was also paid N15, 000, but wasn’t given freedom
at all. He wanted me to always be in the office and I was
doing virtually everything in the office. I had enough experience
needed to start my own chamber. I stayed there for just six
month and left to start my chamber. I left my friend’s
chamber with only N700 in my pocket.
The same month I left my friend’s firm, I established
a chamber after I met someone who gave me a job to do for
him.
What I am driving at is that junior lawyers are used in their
places of pupillage. I want NBA to look into the welfare of
junior lawyers. They should make a minimum wage to be paid
to the lawyers at least N50, 000 per month.
The Nigeria Medical Association does this that is why young
doctors are doing well.
Standard of the legal education
The problem with the legal education is that it is expensive.
They say it is deterioting, but I don’t agree with them.
It is the expensive nature of the legal education that makes
people not continue with it. The 220,000 cost of going to
the Nigerian Law School is expensive.
The standard of education is okay considering the innovation
that is put in it these days. The fees should be reviewed
so as to give junior lawyers the opportunity to continue their
education.
First appearance in court
I have always seen myself as someone who is bold and can address
a crowd just as I addressed congresses in school. I saw the
court as a small place. In my first appearance in court I
was not prepared because my principal was supposed to go but
he had an urgent call. He just threw the file on the table
and said, ‘Attend to it’. When I got to court
I didn’t know what to do, so I asked the senior lawyers
around to give me a clue, which they did.
While I was addressing the court, the judge observed some
things and asked ‘young man when were you called to
the Bar?’ I told him and he gave me, some guidelines.
At the end of everything, the lawyers clapped and laughed
at me but I was also praised, being my first time.
A lot of junior lawyers are afraid to go to court because
they are afraid to address the crowd. It is advisable to get
involved in things that will make you address the crowd once
in a while if you know you want to go into law or else it
will take you almost a year to get the confidence to talk
in court.
Qualities of a good lawyer
The first thing you see in a lawyer is his physical appearance.
The way he is dressed. A good lawyer must follow the principle
of confidentiality. Your client must have confidence in you
and you must keep everything he tells you confidential.
He must have respect for the court/judge because if he does
not respect the judge, he is bringing down the image of the
judiciary.
Lawyers should also not take advantage of their client.
Management style
Management is all about attitude towards your business and
staff. If it is positive, then you will have a positive development.
I play with my staff when necessary and scold them when they
deserve it. I try not to make them fear me and pay them before
the end of the month.
Rejection of case
Rejection of cases is allowed in the profession when there
is a conflict of interest on moral or religious ground. If
someone brings a case to you and you find out it will cause
you to do injustice and tarnish your image, you can reject
it.
Yes I have rejected a case before.
Future of the legal practition
The future of the legal practition is bright because at present,
lawyers are respected unlike during the military regime when
people believe that lawyers were useless to them. Even the
so-called Obasanjo administration flouted court orders. But
the way the rule of law is followed in the country at present
shows that the future of the legal practition is bright.
Challenges and cost of running a chamber
The major challenge of opening a law firm is the cost. No
amount of money is too small to open a law firm. It depends
on the type of firm you want to run. The cost of running a
firm should not stop people from starting one. It is not a
crime to start small but a crime to remain small.
If you want to start a standard law firm, you will need a
whole building. You have to pay staff too and by the time
you consider the cost of all this, you find out that no amount
is too much.
Advice to future lawyers
First, they must develop the habit of reading hard because
reading is the foundation of a legal practitioner. Lawyers
read till death. If you know you are not a good reader, then
you are in the wrong profession.
You also have to be ready to face the challenges of pupillage,
which is the first year in the profession. It is not easy,
some people even lose their wives because they could no longer
fund the relationship.
Always be ready to learn because no lawyer knows everything.
Even the SANs still do research. Be brave, clever and brilliant
so as to get the hint of court. |
