The Tools Of The Profession By Daniel Bulusson – TheNigerialawyer

“Next, I had to practice continually. As a pianist practices the
piano, so the lawyer should practice the use of words, both in
writing and by word of mouth” LORD DENNING.

The law is likened to an elephant being defined by ten blind
men, the one holding the trunk would define law as a trunk, while
another holding the ear would defer to define law as the ear he
touches, none of the parties are entirely wrong or right, it’s a
matter of position, placement and perspective, but then, “Whenever
there is a choice, choose the meaning which accords with reason and
justice”.

Lord Denning in his book ‘the discipline of law’ makes one
understand that in the daily practice of the law, the most
important subject is the construction of documents and to succeed,
a lawyer must cultivate command of language. Words are the tools of
the profession because they are the vehicle of our thought as
“obscurity in thought inexorably leads to obscurity in
language”.

In any parlance of the law a lawyer finds himself, two things
are vital to legal development, ‘practice’ and ‘command of
language’ be it in legal documents like pleadings, letters,
agreements, instruments, memoranda, reports, legal opinions or any
similar documents, or the way he/she carries oneself.

Practice of the law is what builds a lawyer’s skill, knowledge
and confidence, be it as an associate counsel in a law firm, the
legal officer of an institution or under salaried employment of a
government institution, as long as a lawyer pitches tent in any
part of the legal world, he/she ought to ensure to constantly
engage his skill to the development of that area of law, that is
the best avenue to grow and the sure way to achieve this, is to
constantly master the art.

“Seek to make your points clear at all cost, make them positive
and definite. Not neutral or vacillating”, a lawyers command of
language ought to sound confident when expressing a legal opinion
or when preparing a written address in support of an application or
a brief of argument, you may be wrong about the position of the law
but don’t be in doubt of the message conveyed.

The concept of frontloading introduced into the legal system
where a lawyer has to file all his processes and necessary
documents beforehand has turned modern advocacy into written form,
nowadays, oral argument or address in court is restricted to the
processes before the court, meaning that most of what a lawyer
wants to advocate would be in paper form.

A legal professional in drafting legal documents of whatever
sort must be careful to avoid obscurity in content or ambiguity in
the true intent of the message, constantly in practice, one will
find ordinary people giving different meanings to the same word or
a word may mean one thing to one person and another thing to
another, this is why a lawyer must be clear, precise and definite
in the construction of document.

The use of language is crucial to any legal system, the courts
use words to state their reasons for their judgment and also for
interpretation of statutes in justice dispensation, the supreme
court has held in Dr.Olubokola Abubakar Saraki V Federal Republic
of Nigeria {Appeal No.Sc.852/2015} that “it is also trite that when
interpreting the provisions of the statute the court must not
ascribe meanings to clear, plain and unambiguous provisions in
order to make such provisions conform to the courts view of their
meaning or what they ought to be”

This goes to show the importance of words to the legal
practitioner, apart from writing, when a legal professional is
addressing the court either to move a motion or adopt a written
address, your command of language should also be precise, don’t
slur your words, or sound nervous or shaky, no matter how short the
minutes one has to make a point, try to be audible enough to ensure
everyone in the court room can hear and relate with the message
conveyed.

Wherever a lawyer find himself, the tools of the profession
remain the same ‘practice your skill of strength’, and ‘command of
language’ it’s a uniform recipe for legal development.

Do send your comment{s}, observation{s} and recommendation{s} to
[email protected]^[1]
or like us on www.facebook.com/