Evolving Nature Of Legal Practice In Nigeria By Daniel Bulusson

The law as we know it has evolved from the creation of man to
the invention of computers and internet. Back in the 1820’s alcohol
was the marijuana of today. Prohibited in some states of the United
States of America (USA), now alcohol is only prohibited in few
jurisdictions, same sex marriage was considered an abominable
thought some centuries ago, now some countries have given legal
consent to gay marriages.

In same breath, legal practice in Nigeria has evolved from
clerks offering legal services in the hay days when there was no
qualified legal professional, to a legal industry of hundred and
twenty thousand lawyers with innovations like partnership,
e-reporting, virtual law firms and the likes.

Due to the changing nature of law, it is sacrosanct that as the
society grows the laws are modified to fit current trend. Recently
www.nigerianlawyer.com reported that a heatwave has forced Malawi’s
constitutional court to suspend its requirement for lawyers and
judges to wear traditional white wigs and black robes in the
courtroom.

It is my humble opinion that due to the immense transformation
of legal practice; some reforms have become necessary to boost the
legal industry.

The curriculum of law students, mode of teaching, and model for
testing the brilliance of students needs to be modified to fit our
today’s world. Courses that have become archaic ought to be
discarded and new courses introduced; legal students ought to be
taught how to diversify practice to become entrepreneurs. The
curriculum needs to prepare law students to know how to use their
legal skills to earn income for themselves not necessarily waiting
for salaried employment.

The mandatory adornment of wig and gowns ought to be limited to
appearance before the highest court of the land. It is
understandable that since wigs and gowns are so much part of the
British justice system, and as our colonial masters, we had no
choice to imbibe the culture. But then, we can maintain the
long-lasting tradition by modifying the adornment of the wig and
gown to certain jurisdictions in the country.

Another salient area that needs a turn around is the delay of
judicial proceedings in the country; this singular element can be
considered as the reason for the dwindling confidence of the layman
in the judiciary. I sometimes wonder why the only area of law that
can be decided from commencement to appeals in one year are
election petitions.

The Administration of Criminal Justice Act is one law that has
contributed its part to speedy criminal trials in Nigeria. But then
again, we need noble laws like this in other dispute settlement in
the country. To my mind, a great country like Nigeria has reached
the level where justice dispensation ought to be gotten in not more
than three months, the so many loopholes hindering speedy justice
dispensation ought to be checked and filled up.

During the ministerial screening, Festus Keyamo SAN suggested
the unbundling of the Supreme Courts to regions, instead of having
it alone in the Federal Capital Territory. This would help reduce
the stress it takes lawyers from Port-Harcourt, Sokoto, or Abia to
file appeals in the apex court.

Last but not least, the perception of legal practice being
litigation has to change, the society needs to know that lawyers in
the media, maritime, entertainment industry are also practicing
lawyers in that field. The notion that every lawyer must go to
court before being accepted as a lawyer needs to be discarded,
lawyers must be able to venture into the entertainment industry and
still be referred as a practicing lawyer in entertainment.

The legal industry in Nigeria needs to open up its borders to
other enterprising areas of law, and also encourage its members to
take part in it. take pause for a moment, and imagine that there
have been numerous lawyers in the industry before Falz the Bahd guy
(Folarin Falana, Esq) but today, Falz is known beyond the shores of
Nigeria, using his knowledge of law to enlighten the society at
large through music.

Nigeria need not wait for a country to come about an innovation
before we begin to consider such idea, we can be the first to
propagate a societal changing law by using our immediate
environment and needs as a yardstick to bring about would
change.

Godspeed!
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