The Sun News On-line

A legal practitioner has declared that studying law in the university is not a guarantee to practice the profession.
According to Barrister Abiodun Wahab, "anybody can read law, but it is not everybody that can practice law.

"That means you need a lot of dedication and hard work to make any headway in legal profession. It is not a profession for the lazy ones or loafers"

He noted that practicing law entails ability to provide precise answers that may arise in course of trial.
"In law, there is no question of assumption. Everything has to do with precision, which involves research work and rigorous mental reasoning," he said.
He spoke further on what motivated him to study law and other issues affecting the profession.

Why I studied law?
I studied law because I have seen law in action. I studied law because I know that no society can exist without law. I know that law is a tool for social engineering. I believe that through the instrumentality of law, we can best serve the society and humanity, especially when it is obvious that law governs every aspect of human life. It is a fulfilling and rewarding profession.

Inspiration
My first contact with law was when I joined the Ministry of Justice in 1973. That was the then Western State Ministry of Justice. Since then, many of our law officers like Justice Shoremi, Justice Olu Adekeye, both of the Court of Appeal now; the late Justice M. A. Ogundare of the Supreme Court and others greatly inspired me. These are highly intelligent and sound people. Above all, my contact with the late Pa Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), Chief G. O. K. Ajayi (SAN) and the late Chief Bola Ige(SAN) inspired me and served as role models. You’ll agree with me that they are shinning examples in the profession.

First day in court
The first case that I handled in court was an accident case. It was quite interesting. The presiding judge kept referring to me ‘as senior person at the bar’, because of my age. And because I had watched lawyers in action several times, it was not difficult for me to overcome the initial wobbling and fumbling, which was not quite noticeable as such. Nobody could say, with certainty, that I was a new wig. Since then, it has been interesting. As a new wig, one thing is certain, the aura of the court environment could be exciting and at the same time overwhelming.

Managing a law firm
With a background in the civil service, which is more or less a regimental life, legal profession offers totally different approach. Anybody can read law, but it is not everybody that can practice law. That means, you need a lot of dedication and hard work to make headway in legal profession. In law, you don’t assume, it has to be it.

It must be done with precision in terms of presentation and application of rules. That is why I say, it is a statement of ignorance to say lawyers are liars. Legal reasoning is a serious exercise that requires much expertise.
The judges are there to moderate things. Lawyers are in court as minister in temple of justice to assist the court to arrive at a reasonable conclusion.

Managing a law firm entails managing clients successfully. How do you do that? Your client must believe in you and you must believe in the cause of your client. Your ability to impress your client would guarantee his level of confidence in you. As a lawyer, you need to display a high level of integrity in strict adherence to the ethics of the profession. A lawyer who collects client’s money and fails to render the account to the client as and when due is not a lawyer. Lawyers are supposed to be epitome of everything that honourable in man.

As regards the issue of setting up the firm, you must have certain basics things, such as furniture, computer system, secretary/receptionist and one litigation assistant. Those are the minimum basic requirement, and of course, you need books which must form part of your major investment.

As regards the issue of book, there are senior colleagues who will readily allow you to make use of their chambers’ library. You could also make use of court and university libraries. In terms of cost, it depends on your ability. It could be N250,000; it could be N500 million and above.

Democracy and the legal profession
Democracy rests squarely on law and its survival and advancement depends on the law. Look at Kenya’s election induced catastrophy. We also had a terrible election, but we are resolving the matter through the process of law which shows the gradual level of our democratic maturity. Several elections have been nullified, a governor has just been sacked by a court. When politicians decided to mess things up, it is the judiciary, using the instrumentality of law that will clear the mess. Who are the experts in this process, lawyers of course. I would say lawyers have been living up to the expectation in terms of deepening the democratic culture and ethos of the rule of law. Every aspect of human activities is regulated by law.

Quality of lawyers
As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing wrong with the quality of the practitioners. In fact, we have many young, vibrant lawyers. In terms of training, the standard has remained solid. However, just as in any other profession, there are lawyers who may display a certain level of mediocrity and incompetence which may be due to poor attitude to work.

SAN title
I must say from the experience so far, that I have not seen any Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) that does not merit the award. Of course, there are a lot of qualified lawyers out there, but it is not possible to absorb everybody. I’m sure with continuous hard work, those who merit it would get there.