Dressing Neat In The Legal Business

It speaks for itself that most of the lawyers who claim we
are a highly educated profession and therefore not a business were
either very successful in a specialty field or were professors of
law. More Power to them. But as for the rest of us, we are
operating businesses. And if we don’t begin paying attention to how
well we manage and promote our legal enterprises, we are in danger
of going out of business as a profession.

The above is part of the arguments put forth by Bellas
and Wachowski, when emphasizing the fact that the legal
profession is a business. Not every lawyer agrees to that
assertion; no, especially in Nigeria. But the fact is that whether
we call it a business or not, we’ve got to maintain some clients
who will throw in some rubies into our purses at the end of the
day. So, men must wise-up. There must surely be some form of
packaging. Yes, it is necessary, else you may wake up to find out
that you’ve got no good clientele-base.

The success of a good lawyer also depends on how well he or she
packages himself or herself. This, to a large extent deals with the
location of his or her law office, the structure itself, and of
course how equipped it is. When a client walks into a law office,
what does he see? First impression matters, you know! How does the
secretary look? What’s her command of English and how smartly
dressed is she? Does the chamber have a fine smell, or what emits
out of it is that fragrance of a sewage-tank? Some lawyers just do
not care, in that even the wall of their chamber begs for a paint,
not to talk of the broken floor that needs some repairs.

The reception given to a client and the condition of a law
office speaks so much for a lawyer when charges are given. Every
smart lawyer should know that. Apart from that, the appearance of
the lawyer also matters a lot.

Good dressing skill is very important in the legal profession.
Is your suit alluring or some kind of ancient rag that needs to
cleave to some flesh before death?

How mouldy is your wig and gown? Must a gown be hag-tagged to
make a lawyer announce without stress his post-call years? Or is it
just a kind of conventional practice that some senior lawyers do
not wish to let go?

In the legal profession, dressing neat is also very important.
In fact, it is one of those things a business minded lawyer must
consider in his practice of the law. A well fitted-tie, sweet bees’
fabric suit, and a pair of Italian Shoes won’t be a bad
combination; and c’mon, a raiment less of such class but neat and
nimble will also present an advocate with a super smart look,
right? It doesn’t cost so much to look that good. But to be at the
top of your game, going the extra mile will surely not be out of
place.

When a lawyer leaves the black cover-shoe for some old snickers;
wears a ragged robin-wood-kind, and a cotton, and then rests his
legal buttocks on some outdated wooden-stool to draft some
processes, you can be pretty sure that the gods of self-inflicted
punishment have paid such one a visit.

But as the Bellas said: We are operating businesses. And if
we don’t begin paying attention to how well we manage and promote
our legal enterprises, we are in danger of going out of business as
a profession.

Like Afam Osigwe said when he quoted Jay Z, in his paper, “The
Challenges of Managing A Law Office In Modern Day Nigeria”,
‘You are not a businessman, you are a business, man’! So
stick to the code as Business. It doesn’t cost much to look good.
Besides, archaic or ragged appearance doesn’t spell out one’s
expertise of the law. Does it?

Ebi Robert writes For:
TheNigerialawyer