Lawyers Who Live In The Glass House Should Never Attempt To Throw Stone, I Respectfully Advise! By Hameed Ajibola Jimoh Esq. – TheNigerialawyer

Today, the fight against corruption has been so consistent and
effective against some personalities including some lawyers in
different ways. Some lawyers have also given their approval and
support for the fight against corruption in Nigeria. It might be
very surprising as I have reasoned, to discover that perhaps with
due respect, some of those lawyers who support this fight against
corruption too actually have their own corrupt practices in one way
or the other where they have been involved. This paper is a piece
of advice for those lawyers having criminal or corruption records
yet to be discovered to clean their records very well and repent at
least, with an iota of shame before their evil acts will expose
them and put them behind bars, hence, they should not also attempt
throwing a stone as the negative effect on them could be
destructive!.

Some lawyers might think of themselves of being smart when they
were able to maneuver their ways by either bribing court’s staff,
bribing bailiff, or even to the extent of settling nefariously with
judicial officers. They even send their juniors in the office on
nefarious errand to do what they would have done as agents and
accomplice. They jubilate over the success of their evil acts. They
care not whether the system is being spoiled or destroyed by their
evil conducts so far they are able to achieve their evil act. Even
where a client has bad case, they are proud to convince their
clients who is also a pal in crime that if he could deposit some
large amount of money or property to their names, they would be
able to bribe this and that, so and so! They ride on big cars, live
in mansions somewhere such as: Asokoro, Maitama, Gwarinpa estate,
Aso Drive, among other reputable areas of the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja and in such places such as: Lekki, Vitoria Island,
Ajah, Banana estate/island of Lagos, among other reputable areas of
Lagos State. They live in glass house but they forgot! Alas! One
day is near when all these big things would crash in pieces and
become debris that they would not be able to live therein! That is
‘nemeses! Are they saying that they have so soon forgotten that
some judicial officers have been dismissed from the judicial office
and some lawyers have been sent to jail (even Senior Advocates of
Nigeria have had their silk stripped off them!)?! They think
because they are seniors at the bar then they have immunity from
facing the negative consequences of their evil acts! God does not
look at who you are when he decides justice! So, it is better for
those lawyers who keep spoiling the legal profession with their
evil acts (despite that they know the evils that they do, they
still come to the public to canvass for fight against corruption
even though that they know that they are suspects of this crime
against humanity) to repent and amend their ways! They
should always remember ‘Nemesis’ and
Retribution’!

The word ‘Nemesis’ according to the on-line
Webster Dictionary, means ‘an opponent or enemy that is very
difficult to defeat’. And in its full meaning, means ‘one that
inflicts retribution or vengeance’. While the word ‘retribution’
has been defined by this same Dictionary as ‘punishment for doing
something wrong’. And in its full meaning, means 1. Recompense,
reward. 2. The dispensing or receiving of reward or punishment
especially in the hereafter. 3. Something given or exacted in
recompense; especially: punishment’. That is why there
have been several complaints against some lawyers or lawyers
generally to the extent that lawyers have generated the attention
of lay men in the society to the conclusion and of course the
fallacy or untrue conclusion that ‘all lawyers are liars’,
which might have definitely been the result of the public’s
perception of lawyers or the perceptions of some  few of
lawyers derived or formed from their experiences and or contacts
with those lawyers who might have committed one misconduct or the
other in their official or professional capacity, the attitude
which has rendered some few of those lawyers punished and or
penalized by the Disciplinary Committee of the Legal Profession
after having been found guilty of professional misconducts in their
official or professional capacity.

Furthermore, the conducts and attitudes of some lawyers are to
such determination that they can do anything to earn money, even if
such conduct is perceived by a reasonable man or the code of
professional ethics as injustice or an act unbecoming of a legal
practitioner. It is very important for us as lawyers to always
uphold the rule of law and promote the cause of justice even if
doing so is against the client being defended. Most importantly
too, lawyers need to really learn from those that have already been
subject to disciplinary measures for their improper conducts all in
the name of defending clients and at the end of the day, the client
remains but they remain no more as lawyers but as an ordinary man,
having lost their practicing licence for unprofessional conducts.
Rule 1 of the Rules of Professional Conducts for Legal
Practitioners, 2007-herein after referred to as the RPC- is leading
code for lawyers which provides thus ‘A lawyer shall uphold and
observe the rule of law, promote and foster the cause of justice,
maintain a high standard of professional conduct, and shall not
engage in any conduct which is unbecoming of a legal practitioner’.
Also see: Rules: 15, 17, 19, 23, 24, 27 and 37 of the
RPC. The RPC is in a way compelling lawyers in their
professional capacity.

Nevertheless, the ‘nemesis’ or
‘retribution’ is much more admonishing where or when
it concerns the right or interest of an oppressor. There are
several ways through which a lawyer can offend or oppress another
person or even his fellow learned colleague which he might not even
take his time to consider the consequences of his own actions. Some
lawyers from my experiences, have seen the legal profession, where
they have been called upon or consulted for professional duties, as
a do or die affair. They do not care to tell lies, even when they
know that they are telling lies. They encourage their client who
was initially honest and sincere with the facts that he supplied to
the counsel but only for the roles of the counsel that he becomes a
liar. They can do the unimaginable! They can raise defences that
they know by themselves are false and frivolous or untrue defences.
All these efforts are made because of money to fulfill personal
gains or benefit. Even where there are warnings against such
conducts, they refuse or neglect or reject or fail to realise why
they should do the right thing, in the national interest.
Unfortunately, what is right is determined by themselves (those
lawyers) personally and to them, ‘the end always
justifies the means’.

Furthermore, what those lawyers who carry out unprofessional
conducts should know from this paper is that
‘nemesis’ does exist! And all their evil
deeds that they carry out all in the name of professionalism are
‘nemesis’ which would sooner or later catch up with them. The
oppression done to the victim would also be a ‘nemesis’ that
catches up on them if they do not repent and amend their evil
conducts. They really wrongly think in their myopic view that
without engaging or involving in such evil acts, they cannot
succeed in their material gains. This in true sense is as such
because of the way that they believe. Some lawyers might be free
thinkers, while some are religious. It is true in the religious
belief either the Christianity or Islam that the hereafter is
certain and will definitely be a day of Accountability and
Judgement. The Day of Recompense. While some lawyers believe more
in this day and the divine happenings of the day, some disbelieve
and call the day a dream but not a reality. The truth is that those
evil and unrepented lawyers would not escape this day, God willing!
God Almighty is the Lord of the Day. But no doubt, it is the wish
of the writer of this paper that these lawyers would learn today
now before it is too late, fear God Almighty in all that they do
and fear the nemesis of their actions which pays in no time. It
might be thought of as far but might really be near. At least,
death approaches uninformed!

Finally, I urge and adivise young lawyers not to be dragged into
being accomplice to criminalities that they perhaps observe that
their seniors are engaging into and distinguish themselves with
good conducts as admonished by the Rule 1 of the RPC. All lawyers
must remain steadfast in righteousness and the fear of God
Almighty! Evil ways and nefarious dealings are all plots of the
devil and so must be avoided, else, the ‘glass house
Rule’ that this paper discusses is feared to hold
effect against such lawyer who refuses to amend his ways after
having being so admonished by this paper! At least, history would
have it that ‘Hameed Ajibola Jimoh Esq.’ had once said
it’!

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