With Due Respect By Daniel Bulusson – TheNigerialawyer

“Difference in opinion is not enmity”

One of the strongholds in the legal profession is seniority at
the Bar. What this means is that certain preference is given to
senior colleagues like calling a case out of turn in a cause list;
right to be elected into certain positions of NBA, and appointment
into certain positions of government. As such, a junior colleague
is always enjoined to respect a senior colleague at all times even
in speech or argument before the court of law, and many other
privileges alike.

In the same vein, irrespective of the post call years of a
judge, every lawyer including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria
appearing before a judge must accord due respect to the judge, as
his Lordship is in charge of proceedings in his or her court. This
does not mean that a judge is allowed to enter the arena but rather
to control the conduct of proceedings, adjudicate fairly and
deliver unbiased ruling/judgment.

Having said the above, every legal professional is first a
lawyer, having gone through five or six years at the university,
and nine months at the law school before being called to the
Nigerian Bar. Fortunately, or unfortunately we all cannot be called
at the same time. Some seniors were called to Bar the year I was
given birth to, likewise this writer was called in a year a future
lawyer was born (circle of life). It is all time and space as
decided by the Almighty that puts colleagues ahead of others.

A lawyer, be it a junior or senior, owes it as a matter of duty
to protect the interest of his/her client in accordance with the
tenets and provision of the law, when negotiating with other
colleagues or when addressing the courts of law. Sadly, some senior
colleagues have donned upon themselves ‘ominigodo of law’, that
cannot be wrong, in that it is what they say or do that should be
considered right, and must be followed by their junior.

God forbid that any lawyer should know all the laws. We are all
human and bound to be wrong or make certain mistakes once in a
while as we progress in life and our profession. It is only healthy
to be corrected once such errors are spotted by a junior.

In my opinion, once due respect is accorded in the manner of
speech and approach in giving a contrary opinion to a senior
colleague, the senior colleague owes it as a means of encouragement
to the younger lawyers to listen, and decipher if the comments made
by the junior colleague make sense or not.

For instance, our parents grew up in an analogue world and not
accustomed to the use of smart devices, it is only right that they
call upon the younger ones born into the digital world to assist
them operate such devices whenever they have difficulty operating
their phones or tablet.

In the legal industry, some law firms are yet to upgrade their
modus operandi to fit the current trend of information and
communications technology (ICT) because they have refused to allow
the junior colleagues in the office transform the way of doing
things from analogue to digital.

The legal profession can only grow when the experience of the
old is merged with the ideas of the young to forge a greater part,
not to discard the observation and comments of a junior colleague
simply because of his/her post call years. This writer is a witness
to juniors being castigated for having contrary opinion to that of
senior colleagues. Some seniors take it as an affront if a junior
has a contrary view to theirs, and this makes the juniors fear
their seniors rather than respect them.

In the words of Abhijit Naskar “Difference in opinion are no
reason for hatred, as long as someone’s opinion is not aiding in
the creation of differences and hatred in the world… it is okay to
disagree with each other, what is not okay is to hate each other
because we disagree.”

Godspeed!

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