3 Skills Law School Doesn’t Teach You

By Umar Sa’ad Hassan

The best students in school don’t necessarily turn out the best
lawyers. While academic excellence rests almost entirely on the
time and devotion to studies, success in the real world is for
those that best apply skills that are acquired in the natural
course of practice. Those skills for emphasis, are almost never
taught in schools. Let’s walk through 3 things every lawyer should
know that aren’t taught in law school.

RESCUE YOUR WITNESS ALWAYS. ITS A BUSINESS STRATEGY
TOO

You give your witnesses a pep talk and prepare them for their
testimonies but the real job starts when he is on the stand. The
most undesirable moment for an advocate is when his witness loses
composure as a result of lawyers trying very hard with their
questions to make the impossible possible.It is the responsibility
of a wise counsel at this point to object not because a ground
arose, but to enable his witness gain back his footing. Go as hard
as possible. Asides from buying time,it is a psychological booster
for the witness to know you are in it with him and haven’t
abandoned him. The lawyer is trained to remain calm as long as the
line of questioning isn’t doing any real damage to that paragraph
of the final address he has in mind but then one has to balance
that with the need to keep his side motivated. Ultimately the lay
man may not understand that no harm was done to his case,all he
knows is that he or his witness were being hit hard with questions
while the lawyer just sat there and did nothing.Even if you end up
winning the case,he may attribute it to luck and search for a
‘better’ lawyer next time.

DON’T BE CAUGHT IN JUDGE’S CROSS HAIRS.BE ARMED
ALWAYS

There are basically 3 types of judges when they get stuck in
court-First,the ones that listen to submissions of counsel to see
which is more persuasive,then the ones that shove pride aside and
adjourn to research and rule.Thirdly,the ones who never accept they
don’t know and proceed to scrape out a ruling; valid or not.No
matter how sure you are of the position of the law on whatever is
in dispute,you won’t make any head way with category 1 and 3 unless
you have full case citations in court.Otherwise,you have to take
whatever is given to you.Most judges in that position are more
inclined to tilt towards the position of a ‘Supreme Court’
authority or at the very least,thread & comment now carefully.Yes,there are
bound to be impossible situations.Like i remember once being asked
by a magistrate to supply an authority on why there cannot be a
reply on points of law to a reply on points of law after an
application and objection.Its so elementary its a no-win there and
then but it really won’t hurt to always have a collection of
authorities close by on as many issues as you can.It could be at
the back of your diary,in a jotter or book.No matter how long you
don’t get to use it for,it is the right play and you will need it
some day.

NETWORK…MINGLE & TINGLE

If you are a young lawyer whether with your own firm or not,It
is not just enough to be good.You have to ‘network’; build and
cultivate relationships with your seniors and peers to adapt to
these times.Lawyers don’t set up shop and wait for customers to
stroll in,the most connected reap the most fruits.In this age of
social media,a lot get to actively campaign for NBA candidates not
necessarily because they believe they have what it takes to lead
but because they are looking to establish and manage relationships
not just with the candidate himself but with other ‘chairmen’ on
the same ship.The best at doing this establish life long
relationships while the lesser skilled part ways with maybe a
N2M-N3M ‘deed of assignment’ runs.Think how much even the impatient
learner can get from 4 or 5 ‘Anything For Your Boy,Sir?’
arrangements in 1 year.Maybe enough to even start a side hustle.If
you are a private lawyer,the value of social relationships cannot
be over-emphasized.Mingle,tingle and bingo!.

Umar Sa’ad Hassan is a lawyer based in Kano

Email-uhassan077@gmail.com, Twitter-Alaye_100

By Umar Sa’ad Hassan

The best students in school don’t necessarily turn out the best
lawyers. While academic excellence rests almost entirely on the
time and devotion to studies, success in the real world is for
those that best apply skills that are acquired in the natural
course of practice. Those skills for emphasis, are almost never
taught in schools. Let’s walk through 3 things every lawyer should
know that aren’t taught in law school.

RESCUE YOUR WITNESS ALWAYS. ITS A BUSINESS STRATEGY
TOO

You give your witnesses a pep talk and prepare them for their
testimonies but the real job starts when he is on the stand. The
most undesirable moment for an advocate is when his witness loses
composure as a result of lawyers trying very hard with their
questions to make the impossible possible.It is the responsibility
of a wise counsel at this point to object not because a ground
arose, but to enable his witness gain back his footing. Go as hard
as possible. Asides from buying time,it is a psychological booster
for the witness to know you are in it with him and haven’t
abandoned him. The lawyer is trained to remain calm as long as the
line of questioning isn’t doing any real damage to that paragraph
of the final address he has in mind but then one has to balance
that with the need to keep his side motivated. Ultimately the lay
man may not understand that no harm was done to his case,all he
knows is that he or his witness were being hit hard with questions
while the lawyer just sat there and did nothing.Even if you end up
winning the case,he may attribute it to luck and search for a
‘better’ lawyer next time.

DON’T BE CAUGHT IN JUDGE’S CROSS HAIRS.BE ARMED
ALWAYS

There are basically 3 types of judges when they get stuck in
court-First,the ones that listen to submissions of counsel to see
which is more persuasive,then the ones that shove pride aside and
adjourn to research and rule.Thirdly,the ones who never accept they
don’t know and proceed to scrape out a ruling; valid or not.No
matter how sure you are of the position of the law on whatever is
in dispute,you won’t make any head way with category 1 and 3 unless
you have full case citations in court.Otherwise,you have to take
whatever is given to you.Most judges in that position are more
inclined to tilt towards the position of a ‘Supreme Court’
authority or at the very least,thread & comment now carefully.Yes,there are
bound to be impossible situations.Like i remember once being asked
by a magistrate to supply an authority on why there cannot be a
reply on points of law to a reply on points of law after an
application and objection.Its so elementary its a no-win there and
then but it really won’t hurt to always have a collection of
authorities close by on as many issues as you can.It could be at
the back of your diary,in a jotter or book.No matter how long you
don’t get to use it for,it is the right play and you will need it
some day.

NETWORK…MINGLE & TINGLE

If you are a young lawyer whether with your own firm or not,It
is not just enough to be good.You have to ‘network’; build and
cultivate relationships with your seniors and peers to adapt to
these times.Lawyers don’t set up shop and wait for customers to
stroll in,the most connected reap the most fruits.In this age of
social media,a lot get to actively campaign for NBA candidates not
necessarily because they believe they have what it takes to lead
but because they are looking to establish and manage relationships
not just with the candidate himself but with other ‘chairmen’ on
the same ship.The best at doing this establish life long
relationships while the lesser skilled part ways with maybe a
N2M-N3M ‘deed of assignment’ runs.Think how much even the impatient
learner can get from 4 or 5 ‘Anything For Your Boy,Sir?’
arrangements in 1 year.Maybe enough to even start a side hustle.If
you are a private lawyer,the value of social relationships cannot
be over-emphasized.Mingle,tingle and bingo!.

Umar Sa’ad Hassan is a lawyer based in Kano

Email-uhassan077@gmail.com, Twitter-Alaye_100