When lawyers reject case they must give reason
By ONUOHA OLIVER
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

David Emagun, a legal practitioner is not satisfied with some of the conditions used to appoint Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN). He said that most lawyers only go to court to adopt briefs and have never argued brilliantly in appellate courts.

Speaking with DailySun, Emagun said: “No sooner these lawyers apply for SAN, those adoptions will be considered as appearance and as soon as they are conferred the honour, they stop appearing in court, except for matters of high profile political cases involving ex-governors, ex-ministers and so on”.

Why law?
While I was in secondary school, I had the intention to study Political Science. It was partly influenced by my brother who studied Political Science in the United States. The way he speaks influenced my decision at that point, but when I got to class five, I went for a counseling conference at Igbobi College, and met a lawyer. That was my first contact with a lawyer and he said something that really touched my conscience. The counsellor said law gives one the courage to lead life and not to live life. That was the first time I came in contact with the wig, gown and all other paraphernalia of a lawyer. That was the starting point. Ever since, I’ve come to believe in law.

Pupillage
I would advice young lawyers to endeavour to work in law firms before starting their own practice. Now, most young lawyers, as soon as they finish school, go on their own. You find out that when you go on your own, you learn next to nothing. It’s advisable you work in a law firm and get some experience, but the issue now is remuneration. How much will you be paid as salary? That’s why some lawyers don’t want to undergo pupillage because some law firms pay peanuts as low as N10,000. When I started in 1998, my take home was N7,000, but looking back now, I have no regrets because I gained much experience.

First appearance
I had no fear. The reason being that I was with my principal. He was the one who spoke, and I just took notes. I was taken to court a couple of times and later; I started going on my own. The first time I appeared in court alone, I had got used to the rules, language, culture and the traditions of the court, I was not afraid.

Cost of running a law firm
It depends on your kind of practice. Some could afford to get a room apartment or two rooms with the sitting room serving as the reception with a typewriter, the secretary and other rooms serving as the main office. It could be at the range of two million naira or less. But if you want to run a law office with a well equipped library, with state of the arts facilities, you should be looking at N50 million.

Assessment of the judiciary
One would give kudos to the judiciary for the landmark judgments that have been given in the last two years. It has sort of given Nigerians a form of confidence in our judiciary. Prior to that, Nigerians never had confidence in the judiciary and the saying that the judiciary was the last hope of the common man was never actualized, but with the current dispensation, and the good welfare packages for our judicial officers, I would say that our judiciary, at the moment, has lived up to expectations, but there is still room for improvements.

Future of the legal profession
There’s future in the legal profession, but the success of the legal profession, just like any other profession, is tied to the economy. If we have a buoyant economy, all sectors of the economy will benefit from it. As in the 70s, when we were kids, the economy was good, and our parents could afford almost anything you ask for. The currency had value, electricity was stable, and food was there for everyone. When a child was hungry and food was not ready, the mother could give him tea, bread and sardine. Now, it’s an exclusive dinner for the rich. I believe there’s prospect for the legal profession and any other profession, but the government must get our economic policies right.

Lawyers as liars
Some lawyers indulge in sharp practices, but a lawyer who has his integrity always follows the law. I don’t subscribe to the saying that lawyers are liars. The reason being that, a lawyer only act on what the client tells him. The client knows the fact of the case better than the lawyer. All the lawyer does is to give some legal interpretation based on whatever fact the client tells him. When the incident happened, the lawyer wasn’t there, but when it became a matter of litigation, one person took the other to court, it is what you tell your counsel that he goes to court to argue on. I don’t believe lawyers are liars. Lawyers are men of unquestionable integrity.

Cases I may likely not handle
It depends on the case itself. I do more of civil matters and less of criminal matters. I do criminal matters where a family relative is involved or free service where the client is poor and cannot afford legal service and I feel that the client is being oppressed. When there’s a conflict of interest, it’s difficult. Even our rules of professional ethics, enables a lawyer to say, well I’m going to take this case or I’m not going to take this case for certain reasons. If somebody is bringing an action against my mother, it will be difficult for me to want to stand against my mother in court. In such instance, I could tell my client, in as much as I like to handle this case, the party on the other side is my mother and I can’t imagine myself cross examining my mother in court. Even our rules of professional conduct allow you to reject such cases, but you must state reasons you are rejecting such.

SAN title
With regards to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the requirement has been broadened to accommodate those in the academias, prior to that, those in academia were not appointed SANs. I would say I’m partly satisfied. The reason being that the portion that has to do with court appearance leaves much to be desired. Lawyers should be seen to have argued brilliantly, especially in appellate courts, like Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. All they do is to go there and adopt briefs. They don’t argue anything, and it could be that somebody would have written the brief for them as their argument. They go on adopting briefs and at the end of the day, when they apply for SAN; all those adoptions will be considered as appearance. Most of them, no sooner they are made SANs, stop appearing in court, except for matters of high profile political cases that involve an ex-governor or an ex-minister, you see them in court.

Client management
Our firm is structured into practice group. It’s a partnership. There’s a partner that heads oil and gas, solid minerals and taxation. There’s a partner that heads corporate commercial banking, insurance and project financing. I am a partner and heads the litigation and applications. We have a partner that heads shipping and aviation. We try as much to have our personal relationship with our clients that go beyond business relationships.