Granted, the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA) is open to all members of the Association. Yet, not every
lawyer is able to attend, for one reason or the other.
This year’s conference, themed “African Business: Penetrating
Through Institution Building”, included sessions indispensable to
not only practicing lawyers, but law students who would be joining
the profession in a few years.
The most relevant sessions to young lawyers, “Tips for Building
a 360 You” and “Being Relevant in Emerging Practice Areas” engaged
the following issues, amongst others.
- Branding:
Imagine you are a product in a supermarket called life and
your clients are people coming to shop, the question you should be
asking yourself is what would make one client give you the brief as
opposed to the other lawyer?
- Ifeoma Williams, Lawyer & Self-Actualisation Coach (Tips
For Building a 360 You)
In a few words, “branding” is how people perceive you. Contrary
to what you may think, it is not peculiar to corporations alone; it
also concerns legal practitioners.
Your personal brand communicates who you are and what you are
capable of accomplishing. Thus, it includes how you manage your
skill and expertise in a way that projects your competence in your
area of practice.
While there may be a universal language used in legal practice,
there are different communication channels open to lawyers in
different practice areas. For instance, the manner an Intellectual
Property Lawyer communicates is different from the way an Oil and
Gas Lawyer is expected to communicate.
As a legal practitioner, you should be mindful of your channels
of communication and ensure you use them to your advantage. These,
mostly, include how you look, how you project and what comes out of
your mouth.
In forging a personal brand, your clients, not your colleagues
or Principal, should be foremost in your considerations. The
question you should ask yourself is “In what light do I want my
clients to view me?” In addition, your brand should give expression
to your values. Therefore, you should work from inside out, and not
focus entirely on your outer appearance.
- Specialization:
It is typical to see a lawyer in the Nigerian court litigating a
family matter today, a criminal matter tomorrow and a commercial
transaction a few days later. In fact, this is the norm rather than
the exception.
However, this should not be so. Legal practice in more developed
countries has transcended this basic jack-of-all-trade approach to
a more specialized form of practice.
The truth is people respect and listen more to experts.
Prospective clients will be more willing to give you a brief if
they consider you an expert in your area of practice. Nonetheless,
it is not enough to be ‘perceived’ as an expert. You must be
capable of solving the nuttiest issue in your area of practice.
In order to do this, you should choose a desirable practice
area(s) and carve a niche for yourself out of it. You cannot
continue to hop from one practice area to the other, hoping to make
quick bucks from all sides. If you do, you will lose the chance of
earning the real bucks!
You cannot possibly master all practice areas. You will be more
effective – and successful – if you focus on few practice areas,
preferably a maximum of three.
- Do not Ignore Emerging Practice Areas:
Although real property is still a thriving area of practice,
legal practice in the 21st Century does not exclusively
revolve around it. There are tons of other (emerging) practice
areas, most of which are being ignored by lawyers and are,
consequently, dominated by international law firms.
These practice areas include Media and Entertainment,
Intellectual Property, Space, Telecommunications, and Mining
amongst others. There is a crucial need for lawyers to build
expertise in these practice areas in order to meet clients’ growing
demand and develop regulatory policies for much-needed
development.
In order to expand the scope of your practice area, you need not
delve into an entirely new practice area. You may identify emerging
practice areas similar to your current area of expertise (provided
you are specialised in one or more practice areas) and extend your
expertise by reviewing published materials and engaging experts in
the emerging practice area(s).
Branding, specialization and building expertise in emerging
practice areas, amongst other benefits, provide new opportunities,
allow you to serve the growing needs of clients, and help you to
remain relevant and on top of your game.
Olayanju Phillips is a graduate of the Faculty of
Law, Osun State University. He may be reached via
phillipsadeola@gmail.com
Granted, the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA) is open to all members of the Association. Yet, not every
lawyer is able to attend, for one reason or the other.
This year’s conference, themed “African Business: Penetrating
Through Institution Building”, included sessions indispensable to
not only practicing lawyers, but law students who would be joining
the profession in a few years.
The most relevant sessions to young lawyers, “Tips for Building
a 360 You” and “Being Relevant in Emerging Practice Areas” engaged
the following issues, amongst others.
- Branding:
Imagine you are a product in a supermarket called life and
your clients are people coming to shop, the question you should be
asking yourself is what would make one client give you the brief as
opposed to the other lawyer?
- Ifeoma Williams, Lawyer & Self-Actualisation Coach (Tips
For Building a 360 You)
In a few words, “branding” is how people perceive you. Contrary
to what you may think, it is not peculiar to corporations alone; it
also concerns legal practitioners.
Your personal brand communicates who you are and what you are
capable of accomplishing. Thus, it includes how you manage your
skill and expertise in a way that projects your competence in your
area of practice.
While there may be a universal language used in legal practice,
there are different communication channels open to lawyers in
different practice areas. For instance, the manner an Intellectual
Property Lawyer communicates is different from the way an Oil and
Gas Lawyer is expected to communicate.
As a legal practitioner, you should be mindful of your channels
of communication and ensure you use them to your advantage. These,
mostly, include how you look, how you project and what comes out of
your mouth.
In forging a personal brand, your clients, not your colleagues
or Principal, should be foremost in your considerations. The
question you should ask yourself is “In what light do I want my
clients to view me?” In addition, your brand should give expression
to your values. Therefore, you should work from inside out, and not
focus entirely on your outer appearance.
- Specialization:
It is typical to see a lawyer in the Nigerian court litigating a
family matter today, a criminal matter tomorrow and a commercial
transaction a few days later. In fact, this is the norm rather than
the exception.
However, this should not be so. Legal practice in more developed
countries has transcended this basic jack-of-all-trade approach to
a more specialized form of practice.
The truth is people respect and listen more to experts.
Prospective clients will be more willing to give you a brief if
they consider you an expert in your area of practice. Nonetheless,
it is not enough to be ‘perceived’ as an expert. You must be
capable of solving the nuttiest issue in your area of practice.
In order to do this, you should choose a desirable practice
area(s) and carve a niche for yourself out of it. You cannot
continue to hop from one practice area to the other, hoping to make
quick bucks from all sides. If you do, you will lose the chance of
earning the real bucks!
You cannot possibly master all practice areas. You will be more
effective – and successful – if you focus on few practice areas,
preferably a maximum of three.
- Do not Ignore Emerging Practice Areas:
Although real property is still a thriving area of practice,
legal practice in the 21st Century does not exclusively
revolve around it. There are tons of other (emerging) practice
areas, most of which are being ignored by lawyers and are,
consequently, dominated by international law firms.
These practice areas include Media and Entertainment,
Intellectual Property, Space, Telecommunications, and Mining
amongst others. There is a crucial need for lawyers to build
expertise in these practice areas in order to meet clients’ growing
demand and develop regulatory policies for much-needed
development.
In order to expand the scope of your practice area, you need not
delve into an entirely new practice area. You may identify emerging
practice areas similar to your current area of expertise (provided
you are specialised in one or more practice areas) and extend your
expertise by reviewing published materials and engaging experts in
the emerging practice area(s).
Branding, specialization and building expertise in emerging
practice areas, amongst other benefits, provide new opportunities,
allow you to serve the growing needs of clients, and help you to
remain relevant and on top of your game.
Olayanju Phillips is a graduate of the Faculty of
Law, Osun State University. He may be reached via
phillipsadeola@gmail.com
Read more https://nairalaw.com/nba-annual-general-conference-2017-3-valuable-career-nuggets-you-missed/