The President of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Mr. Paul
Usoro,SAN has disclosed the decision of the NBA partnering with the
foremost Law Pavilion with a view to making research more
accessible to young lawyers in this period of pandemic.
This is contained in a statement dated 10th day of June, 2020
which was made available to Nairalaw (TNL) and signed by
the NBA President.
In addition, the statement disclosed that this would serve as
palliative to young lawyers between the post call age of one to
seven years who have paid their Bar Practicing Fee (BPF) as at the
31st day of March, 2020.
The statement reads:
10 June 2020
LAWPAVILION ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION – BEYOND COVID-19 PANDEMIC RELIEF
FOR YOUNG LAWYERS
1. The Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) has just signed a
contract with LawPavilion Business Solutions Limited (“LawPavilion
Business Solutions”) for the “provision of LawPavilion Electronic
Law Reports and Legal Research Software Licenses to Young Lawyers
(i.e. Post-Call ages 1 to 7) who had paid their Bar Practice Fees
as at 31 March 2020”. This is a most rewarding and milestone
project for us and one that fulfills in an unparalleled manner, our
commitment to the welfare and upliftment of our young lawyers.
2. More often than not, the discourse on enhancing the welfare
of our young lawyers turns on immediate gratification, mostly in
the form of financial palliatives and handouts. Indeed, in the wake
of COVID-19, calls for interventions on behalf of the young lawyers
mostly promoted such transient gratifications and financial
handouts. The problem with those classes of welfare packages, as
handy and useful as they might be for a moment, is that they are
always transient and not long-lasting howsoever.
3. In order not to remain in that beaten and well-traveled path,
we had been ruminating for some time on how best to give to our
young colleagues a welfare package that would not only be
meaningful but would also be impactful, foundational in nature,
long-lasting and enduring. It was in the course of those
ruminations that we settled on the idea of a one-year electronic
law report subscription for all young lawyers who were up to date
in the payment of their Bar Practice Fees (“BPF”) as at 31 March
2020. We interviewed a number of service providers in that genre
and settled on LawPavilion Electronic Law Reports and Legal
Research Software Licenses (“LawPavilion”) after a protracted
negotiation process.
4. Ordinarily, LawPavilion Business Solutions offers its
one-year LawPavilion subscription to lawyers at the rate of
N30,000.00 per subscriber; for this special project and at the
instance of the NBA it agreed to give us a very steep discount
which crashed its subscription rate to N3,000.00 per subscriber
without reducing the offerings and features of the subscription. In
particular, the features of the subscription include the
following:
• Over 20,000 authorities of both Supreme Court and Court of
Appeal starting from 1960 till date with automatic updates;
• 61 Years Consolidated Index and Law Digest – both Supreme Court
and Court of Appeal Judgments;
• “Google-like” Search Engine for quick retrieval of authorities on
issues (eResearch);
• Laws of the Federation
• Civil Procedure Rules for all the Courts
• Subsidiary Legislation generally.
5. With this subscription project, the NBA has pioneered the
empowerment of our young lawyers with the most essential and
primary tools of our legal trade, to wit, the precedents, statutes,
court rules and research materials with which they can serve their
clients effortlessly and without being at the mercy of any person.
Young lawyers with industry and drive who had paid their BPF as at
31 March 2020 now have no excuse for not researching their cases
properly and serving their clients well by making powerful and
well-directed submissions to courts in a manner that would not only
earn them the respect of their peers and seniors but also earn them
sustained upkeep and the appreciation of their clients.
6. I have already instructed the NBA Secretariat to compile the
names of all the qualified beneficiaries of this scheme and liaise
with LawPavilion Business Solutions for the provision of the
service to them. I have also conscripted the Governing Council of
the Young Lawyers Forum, led by its dynamic Chairman, Tobi
Adebowale, to work with the NBA Secretariat in harvesting the names
and contact details of these prospective beneficiaries from the
list of lawyers who had paid their BPF as at 31 March 2020 and who
had opened their portals at the NBA website. I mention the NBA
website portals because this would be a web-based subscription
service that would be accessed through the NBA website and
available only to those young lawyers who have opened their portals
at the website.
7. If you are a young lawyer (i.e. post-call ages 1 to 7) and
had paid your BPF as at 31 March 2020 but are yet to create your
personalized portal at the NBA website, please do so now and
immediately. LawPavilion Business Solutions, working with the NBA
Secretariat, will contact you directly based on your contact
details in your portal. Should you encounter challenges in creating
or accessing your NBA website portal for the purposes of this
exercise or at all, please contact Umar Gezawa immediately at
Umar.Gezawa@nigerianbar.org.ng and copy
the mail to Ayodeji Oni at
ayodeji.oni@nigerianbar.org.ng and Tobi
Adebowale at
tobiadebowale@nigerianbar.org.
Paul Usoro, SAN
NBA President
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Mr. Paul
Usoro,SAN has disclosed the decision of the NBA partnering with the
foremost Law Pavilion with a view to making research more
accessible to young lawyers in this period of pandemic.
This is contained in a statement dated 10th day of June, 2020
which was made available to Nairalaw (TNL) and signed by
the NBA President.
In addition, the statement disclosed that this would serve as
palliative to young lawyers between the post call age of one to
seven years who have paid their Bar Practicing Fee (BPF) as at the
31st day of March, 2020.
The statement reads:
10 June 2020
LAWPAVILION ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION – BEYOND COVID-19 PANDEMIC RELIEF
FOR YOUNG LAWYERS
1. The Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) has just signed a
contract with LawPavilion Business Solutions Limited (“LawPavilion
Business Solutions”) for the “provision of LawPavilion Electronic
Law Reports and Legal Research Software Licenses to Young Lawyers
(i.e. Post-Call ages 1 to 7) who had paid their Bar Practice Fees
as at 31 March 2020”. This is a most rewarding and milestone
project for us and one that fulfills in an unparalleled manner, our
commitment to the welfare and upliftment of our young lawyers.
2. More often than not, the discourse on enhancing the welfare
of our young lawyers turns on immediate gratification, mostly in
the form of financial palliatives and handouts. Indeed, in the wake
of COVID-19, calls for interventions on behalf of the young lawyers
mostly promoted such transient gratifications and financial
handouts. The problem with those classes of welfare packages, as
handy and useful as they might be for a moment, is that they are
always transient and not long-lasting howsoever.
3. In order not to remain in that beaten and well-traveled path,
we had been ruminating for some time on how best to give to our
young colleagues a welfare package that would not only be
meaningful but would also be impactful, foundational in nature,
long-lasting and enduring. It was in the course of those
ruminations that we settled on the idea of a one-year electronic
law report subscription for all young lawyers who were up to date
in the payment of their Bar Practice Fees (“BPF”) as at 31 March
2020. We interviewed a number of service providers in that genre
and settled on LawPavilion Electronic Law Reports and Legal
Research Software Licenses (“LawPavilion”) after a protracted
negotiation process.
4. Ordinarily, LawPavilion Business Solutions offers its
one-year LawPavilion subscription to lawyers at the rate of
N30,000.00 per subscriber; for this special project and at the
instance of the NBA it agreed to give us a very steep discount
which crashed its subscription rate to N3,000.00 per subscriber
without reducing the offerings and features of the subscription. In
particular, the features of the subscription include the
following:
• Over 20,000 authorities of both Supreme Court and Court of
Appeal starting from 1960 till date with automatic updates;
• 61 Years Consolidated Index and Law Digest – both Supreme Court
and Court of Appeal Judgments;
• “Google-like” Search Engine for quick retrieval of authorities on
issues (eResearch);
• Laws of the Federation
• Civil Procedure Rules for all the Courts
• Subsidiary Legislation generally.
5. With this subscription project, the NBA has pioneered the
empowerment of our young lawyers with the most essential and
primary tools of our legal trade, to wit, the precedents, statutes,
court rules and research materials with which they can serve their
clients effortlessly and without being at the mercy of any person.
Young lawyers with industry and drive who had paid their BPF as at
31 March 2020 now have no excuse for not researching their cases
properly and serving their clients well by making powerful and
well-directed submissions to courts in a manner that would not only
earn them the respect of their peers and seniors but also earn them
sustained upkeep and the appreciation of their clients.
6. I have already instructed the NBA Secretariat to compile the
names of all the qualified beneficiaries of this scheme and liaise
with LawPavilion Business Solutions for the provision of the
service to them. I have also conscripted the Governing Council of
the Young Lawyers Forum, led by its dynamic Chairman, Tobi
Adebowale, to work with the NBA Secretariat in harvesting the names
and contact details of these prospective beneficiaries from the
list of lawyers who had paid their BPF as at 31 March 2020 and who
had opened their portals at the NBA website. I mention the NBA
website portals because this would be a web-based subscription
service that would be accessed through the NBA website and
available only to those young lawyers who have opened their portals
at the website.
7. If you are a young lawyer (i.e. post-call ages 1 to 7) and
had paid your BPF as at 31 March 2020 but are yet to create your
personalized portal at the NBA website, please do so now and
immediately. LawPavilion Business Solutions, working with the NBA
Secretariat, will contact you directly based on your contact
details in your portal. Should you encounter challenges in creating
or accessing your NBA website portal for the purposes of this
exercise or at all, please contact Umar Gezawa immediately at
Umar.Gezawa@nigerianbar.org.ng and copy
the mail to Ayodeji Oni at
ayodeji.oni@nigerianbar.org.ng and Tobi
Adebowale at
tobiadebowale@nigerianbar.org.
Paul Usoro, SAN
NBA President