LAW PRACTICE BUILDING IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES
BEING A PAPER PRESENTED BY
PROFESSOR DAMFEBO K. DERRI, FCArb
ON THE OCCASION OF A ONE DAY
SPECIAL SESSION ORANIZED BY
NEMBE-SE LAWYERS FORUM
The term ‘Law Practice’ also known as ‘legal
practice’ can be inferred literally to mean the practice of law as a
discipline. The Black’s Law Dictionary defines ‘law practice’ as “… an
attorney’s professional business, including the relationships that the attorney
has with clients and the goodwill associated with those relationships”. In a
more elaborate definition, Law Practice which is another term for ‘Practice of
law’ is said to be:
The professional work of a duly licensed lawyer, encompassing a
broad range of services such as conducting cases in court, preparing papers
necessary to bring about various transactions from conveying land to effecting
corporate mergers, preparing legal opinions on various points of law, drafting
wills and other estate-planning documents, and advising clients on legal
questions. The term also includes activities that comparatively few lawyers
engage in but that require legal expertise, such as drafting legislation and
court rules.
The spectrum of professional work or activities expected to be
carried out by a legal practitioner in law practice are numerous from the above
definitions. In summary, law practice or the practice of law can be described
as the set of professional work or activities in the form of service, a person
licensed to practice law can lawfully offer or render for the benefit of a
client.
On the other hand the term ‘build’ has been
defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary in its 3rd meaning as
“to develop according to a systematic plan, by a definite process, or on a
particular base”. Adeyemi also cited the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary as defining the word ‘build’ as to create over a long period of
time. The definitions are suggestive of the fact that building involves a
process and therefore not a one-off event or occurrence.
The principal focus of this paper therefore is a
consideration of the systematic process of creating a robust professional and
business practice of a legal practitioner in Nigeria. I think it is pertinent
at this juncture to briefly outline the respective areas of law practice and
the possible peculiarities in building each area of practice in contemporary
times.
2. NATURE OF LAW PRACTICE IN NIGERIA
Legal practitioners in Nigeria upon being called
to the Nigerian Bar are open to either practice law as general practitioners,
or practice law for a particular office, or practice law for a particular
proceeding. However, on a more restrictive classification of law practice in
Nigeria, it can be argued that law practice is either in the realm of public or
that of private. This is because, irrespective of the kind or subject-area of
interest of a legal practitioner, he would either be retained – full time or
for specific service – by and for a public entity or for a private entity. This
is especially so as there appears not to be a middle class of legal
practitioners that lawfully practice in both realms at all times.
In the early development years of the legal
profession in Nigeria, only a few persons – mostly from the elite families –
were privileged to study law abroad and were called to the respective Inns of
the English Bar to practice law. Legal practitioners were very few then, and as
such legal services were also short in supply compared to the demands. There
was therefore less competition amongst legal practitioners in the environment
of legal services as at the said period. Additionally, the focus of legal
practitioners in the said period was more professional than business-like, as
underscored by Kwame Nkrumah thus:
In a developing country, the first priority is
not for lawyers trained to conduct litigation between wealthy individuals… the
lawyers needed in a developing State are, in the first place, those trained to
assist the ordinary men and women in their everyday legal problems and
particularly in the new problems likely to arise through industrialization.
Law practice in Nigeria is still developing but
cannot be compared to the state of the profession in pre-independence Nigeria
or early post-independence Nigeria. Law practice in contemporary times have
developed in geometric progression courtesy of globalisation and information
technology, but the present population of legal practitioners engaged in law
practice in Nigeria has made it seemingly competitive.
A legal practitioner after his call is by law entitled to practice
law anywhere in Nigeria. He may decide to practice law in any of the different
available forms of law practice. Some of the known and available forms of law
practice are sole practitioner-ship, sole proprietorship, associate-ship, or
partnership.
The particular choice of the form of law practice a legal
practitioner decides to adopt is also largely influenced by several factors.
However, in order to build a more robust, and successful law practice with a
global competitive advantage in this 21st century, partnership
is the best form of law practice that should be adopted by legal practitioners.
Unini, in subscribing to this view properly described the reason for the
inability of legal practitioners in Nigeria to compete globally thus:
The average corner shop in Nigeria masquerading
as a Firm cannot achieve all these. We therefore have a lot of small Firms and
very few big Firms. Quite naturally, the small Firms are supposed to be more
than the big Firms but in Nigeria, the disparity is even more pronounced. Many
of our Firms are therefore unable to compete internationally because they are
ill-equipped and lack the requisite specialisation.
4. BUILDING A LAW PRACTICE IN
CONTEMPORARY TIMES
It is correct to say that in contemporary times
the legal practice market has become a lot more competitive than it used to be
before now. You will agree with me that the respective Faculties of law
together with the Nigerian Law School churn out thousands of lawyers called to
the Nigeria Bar on a yearly basis. The legal practice market has become more
competitive due to the surge in the number of legal practitioners, thereby
giving clients the opportunity of making choices and preferring one lawyer to
another.
It is not advisable for the fresher to open a law office upon
being called to the Bar. It is essential that he understudies a more
experienced colleague for at least five years before establishing his own
practice. The table below shows the number of lawyers produced in Nigeria from
2016 to 2020.
|
Year of Call |
No. of Lawyers |
|
2016 |
5,650 |
|
2017 |
4,294 |
|
2018 |
4,779 |
|
2019 |
4,425 |
|
2020 |
1,785 |
Source: https://dnllegalandstyle.com. Accessed 09/04/2021
As at today, a total of 117,385 lawyers have been produced in this
Country. That is a lot of lawyers. This means, there are many senior lawyers,
so it will be very difficult for the fresher to compete in an environment
studded with senior lawyers. How then can one secure a more competitive
advantage in law practice in Nigeria?
Technology will enable a lawyer, even junior ones, to solve most
of their problems more easily. Technology will also enable one to create a
practice that is easy to manage with low overhead (i.e. less paper, less office
space). But working with technology has its abiding challenges. One must master
the use of computer or hire the right people.
Whereas the factors to be considered in building a law practice
with competitive advantage are numerous, just a few of the most important ones
will be mentioned and briefly x-rayed in this paper.
A veritable pillar for building a robust and successful law
practice in Nigeria is submission to tutelage and mentorship. Upon being
qualified and called to the Nigerian Bar by the Body of Benchers, the person
becomes qualified to practice law as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme
Court of Nigeria. Unfortunately, both the law faculties and the training
program of the Nigerian Law School do not cover or envisage every possible step
of law practice, hence the products of the said institutions usually do not
possess complete knowledge of law practice.
A lot of the antics and tactics employed in law practice in Nigeria
are learned over time from seeing and learning from a practical application of
those steps. This can only be achieved by submitting yourself to learning at
the feet of a legal practitioner who has built a successful or good law
practice in and out of court. Aorabee aptly made this point thus:
The shocking truth is this! You can’t be a Gani Fawehinmi, Femi
Falana or Rotimi Williams in a day; sorry I meant to say a year, or even ten.
You are not weaned legally yet, and must be willing to be taught to be learned.
This extends to being patient while watching other seniors or
experienced lawyers (irrespective of their age at the bar) conduct cases in
court or handle other transactional legal services. Whereas tutelage is more
applicable to younger lawyers desirous of building a successful law practice,
older lawyers at the bar who are yet to build the desired law practice are
encouraged to have mentors in the profession that will guide them from time to
time in pursuance of building a successful law practice.
4.2 Qualities and skills expected for a successful law
practice
Every successful legal practitioner with a globally competitive
law practice must be seen to exhibit certain sterling qualities and
professional skills. These qualities and skills may however be subjected to
character and capacity.
Character: This
implies the mental and moral qualities that distinguish one individual from
another. In order to be successful in any endeavour in life, a person must
possess a good character. The Holy Bible in Proverbs 22:1 says “A good name
[earned by honourable behaviour, godly wisdom, moral courage, and personal
integrity] is more desirable than great riches; and favour is better than
silver and gold”. Character is not a skill but a quality that has other sets of
attributes that must be coveted and built over time. Some of such attributes
that are required in building a robust, successful, and globally competitive
law practice include integrity, diligence, good dress sense, and honesty.
i. Integrity
envisages that as a lawyer in law practice, you must have strong moral
principles. Integrity has been described as ‘… invaluable and a great
investment of inestimable value for any lawyer who wishes to last longer in …
practice’. Your clients, colleagues, judges, and the society should know you
for having integrity as that is the only reason such person will trust you with
their hard earned resources or liberty.
ii. Diligence
is another attribute that must be exhibited by a legal practitioner desirous of
building a competitive law practice in the 21st century.
Diligence encapsulates the quality of being passionate, consistent, and
persistent with your area of law practice. The Holy Bible stated aptly the
effects of being a diligent man thus: ‘Seesth thou a man diligent in his
business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men’. You
can hardly point to a legal practitioner that has reached the apogee of this
profession – either as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor of Law, judges,
corporate secretaries and practitioners etc. – that has not been diligent in
pursuit of same.
iii. Good
dress code is a veritable factor for building trust and confidence in a legal
practitioner by his clients. As it is always the case, clients will rate you,
relate with you, and address you the way you are always dressed. An online
report on lawyers’ dress code underscored this point more aptly thus: “If you
are an attorney, dressing well isn’t just a good idea; it’s the only way to
maximize your chances of career advancement and solidify your reputation as a
qualified legal professional”. This is so because the legal profession and law
practice are not just conservatively distinctive and peculiar, but also a noble
one that should be accorded the deserving treatment.
iv. Honesty
is a virtue that every lawyer who aims to build a successful law practice must
covet and strive to possess. A substantial number of persons hold the view that
lawyers are liars by reason of their role in aiding the court to inquire into
the truth of facts and right application of law. While it may take the profession
some time to completely dispel this opinion, lawyers who are desirous of
building a successful law practice in contemporary time must deliberately take
all necessary steps to be honest. It is said that ‘Honesty and
integrity are absolutely essential for success in life – all areas of life. The
good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity’.
The above expatiated attributes of character that must be
possessed by a legal practitioner in order to build a globally competitive law
practice in the 21st century are not exhaustive. It is however
worthy of note that character occupies a central place for success in this
profession. A lawyer with capacity but without character will be kicked out
from the competitive legal practice market.
Capacity: Capacity
as used in this sense means the ability or power to do or understand something.
A legal practitioner despite being licensed to practice law, would not attract
the needed clients to build a successful law practice or career where he lacks
the requisite capacity to handle such cases brought to him. The capacity
therefore needed to build a successful law practice spans from good academic
pedigree, embarking on continuing legal education, tutelage and mentorship,
specialization, adapting to new areas of law or attempts at breaking new
grounds, charging good professional fees etc.
i. Continuing
legal education: A lot of lawyers believe that after being called to the bar,
their legal education comes to an end. Such a lawyer will not grow beyond what
he or she was taught in the law school. In order to have a competitive
advantage, a lawyer must invest in continuing legal education particularly in
the areas of his interest in the practice of law. You must strive to be a
competent lawyer by continuing legal education else other lawyers and litigants
may use you as a yardstick to measure or showcase their competence. This is
part of the reason, Hon. Justice Ekundayo argues that incompetent lawyers
actually serve a useful purpose. In order to promote the building of globally
competitive law practice in Nigeria, the Bar Council made it a mandatory
requirement in Rule 11 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal
Practitioners, 2007, for legal practitioners to embark on continuing legal
education every year.
ii. Tutelage
and mentorship: Tutelage and mentorship in the legal profession is as old as
the profession and is still much encouraged. No matter the grade of degree
secured by a lawyer, he or she should subject himself to tutelage and
mentorship in order to have a competitive advantage in law practice.
iii. Specialization
in law practice: In contemporary times, specialization in certain areas of law
makes it very easy to be known and resorted to in law practice. Besides the
fact that section 24 of the Legal Practitioners Act describes the first
category of lawyers as general practitioners does not restrict a lawyer from
being specialized in an area of practice. In contemporary times, specialising
in a particular field and developing capacity in that field has the propensity
of quickly announcing you in that area. Emerging areas of law that are money
spinning and attracts a lot of clients are medical law, cyberspace law,
FinTech, sports law, entertainment law, intellectual property law, tax law, ADR
and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), etc.
iv. Adapting
and breaking new grounds: Lawyers are also expected to be innovative by their
training. Continuing legal education can also enable a lawyer to break new
grounds in law practice away from the already existing general or even
specialized areas of practice. It is also open to lawyers to learn to adapt to
new vistas of law practice introduced by others and not to remain with what has
been learnt in the face of constant change in law practice. The inability to
adapt to periodic changes have informed the reason some older lawyers have not
been able to practice law smartly in the present jet age. Chinua Achebe
thematically expressed the problems associated with failure or refusal to adapt
to changes in the character of ‘Okonkwo’ in “Things Fall Apart”.
v. Charging
good professional fees: The failure or refusal to charge good professional fees
by legal practitioners have contributed immensely to the falling standard of
law practice in Nigeria. One may wonder how related are a lawyer’s capacity and
charging of fees. They are related to the extent that clients assess the
capacity of a lawyer also from the amount he bills for his professional fees.
Once a lawyer shows desperation to take and keep a brief by charging less than
appropriate fees, he impresses on the client that he lacks the requisite
capacity for the job. The testimonies on this aspect are numerous but I will
quickly refer to one related by the legal sage – Chief Afe Babalola. He said he
was approached by a company to conduct a matter and as at then he gave the
company a bill of $800,000. The company later hired another SAN who charged
them $100,000 but lost the case. The company later went back to Chief Afe to
conduct the case on appeal and was paid $700,000. Though Afe and the lawyer
that conducted the case at the trial are SANs, the fees charged left the
clients with the impression that Chief Afe had more capacity than his learned
brother SAN.
5. HOW CAN THE CONTEMPORARY LAWYER
ATTRACT CLIENTS?
Lawyers attract clients by meeting with them at events (networking
events) or through referral from people by word of mouth. These time-tested
methods work to some degree, but they are not adequate because a good number of
prospective clients do not get to know lawyers through these channels. That is
because, today’s consumer has changed the way he or she seeks to obtain goods
and services. If someone needs a car ride in Lagos or Abuja today, there is
Uber. One does not need to go to superstore to buy some necessities. There is
Jumia. In other words, consumers now go online as a first step to obtain what
they are looking for. The legal consumer is no different. William Hubbard, a
former President of the American Bar Association said –
a majority of Americans go online first to learn
about their legal problems and resolve them. They look first to online services
rather than to a lawyer. So lawyers must adapt if they are going to continue to
be significant players in addressing the needs of ordinary Americans.
So a lawyer must establish an online presence to attract clients.
This necessarily means building a website.The contemporary lawyer must learn to
market his practice online. This is the thing that will have the greatest
long-term payoff. If this is done right, the practice could be two or three
times more profitable, but without any increase in workload. The internet is
where all the gold is, and one needs to learn to mine it.
Increasingly, people are looking to the internet where they need
to hire a lawyer. Today, most people looking for a lawyer use the internet as
part of their evaluation process. Therefore, having a website is crucial to
lawyers now.
Creating a website has immediate short-term benefits, because it
can help the lawyer build instant credibility. There are chances that even if a
client is referred to a lawyer, the client may want to do his own diligence on
the lawyer. Having a website that emphasises the lawyer’s experience and
practice strengths gives a potential consumer a degree of comfort and
confidence that would otherwise be difficult to replicate with a word of mouth
referral alone. This is amplified if the website contains social proofs. That
is, reviews from previous clients, who had a positive experience working with
the lawyer.
Other sources of online legal markets are: creating e-mail
newsletters, contributing to online publications and legal directory websites.
These websites allow the lawyer to get listed so that at least the lawyer is
searchable. Also, contributing a piece to publication that already reaches the
lawyer’s specific audience allows the lawyer to establish himself as an expert
in the space and increases his chances of being called upon when a need arises.
So the contemporary lawyer must embrace modern technology to transform his
practice to make it effective. He may do one or three things to achieve this.
First, he must work on simplifying the work and lower overhead
costs. This means he will start to digitalize bulky papers. This will enable
him to use less office space, and not depend too much on human beings (paid
staff) to deal with papers.
When digital technology emerged in the early years of the
twenty-first century, a variety of applications such as document management,
electronic billing and discovery tools entered the corporate landscape.
Secondly, he must automate his documents. This will enable him to
get information on his documents with a few clicks.
Finally, he must learn to work virtually from anywhere with an
internet connection.
6. TRANSFORMING PRACTICE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
The 21st Century lawyer will transform his
practice through technology in a variety of ways.
6.1 Developing the Right Frame of Mind
The lawyer must have the right frame of mind. Technology can be a
challenge for many lawyers. Technology will constitute a challenge to a lawyer
when he does not approach it with the right frame of mind. A lawyer must not be
haphazard in his approach to the use of the computer. He must be able to work
with the computer very well, knowing all or most of the applications, otherwise
he may not be in a position to effectively supervise his support staff. Without
a good or right frame of mind, computer technology may frustrate a lawyer.
The lawyer needs to develop a roadmap of the processes he intends
to use. This will enable him to link one process with another in a systematic
manner.
The lawyer should have well-developed systems for running his law
practice. The systems should be properly documented. The way in which one staff
member performs his task and how another person does it should be documented
and systematized. This will bring about harmony in the office and prevent
chaos.
6.4 Use of Technical/Professional Assistance
It is very essential to have good technical/professional
assistance. Taking advantage of expert assistance is necessary as it enables
the lawyer to select the best options and then prioritizing them. The best
expert is one who, not only knows a lot about the computer technology, but also
has specific experience advising lawyers in various practice areas. So, the
assistance that is needed is not that of an amateur. In this area of use of
professional assistance, it is not advisable to rely on the assistance of a
fellow lawyer because what may have worked for that particular lawyer may only
work for his own systems. So transposing what worked in one law practice to
another practice may create complications. The 21st Century
lawyer, therefore, needs a trustworthy technology consultants to help him make
good choices and to help him implement those choices.
6.5 Lawyering with Less Papers
The lawyer who wishes to transform and streamline his practice
will need to stop managing information in paper form. Digital information is
cheaper to store, easier to transmit, and can be automated easily. Digital
information management systems will require word processing files and mails.
This does not mean the lawyer will never deal with paper again. It only means
that the lawyer is dealing less with paper. Most importantly, the lawyer’s main
information management system will be digitally based as opposed to
paper-based.
The cloud is another word for the Internet. Thus, storing data on
the cloud transcends to storing data on the internet. When the lawyer releases
himself from excessive dependence on paper, he will want the freedom to access
his information anytime, anywhere, even when he is out of the office. This
means he needs to embrace the cloud.
The cloud may appear mysterious, but it is easy to comprehend.
Basically, it means one can use the internet to make transferring digital files
fast, simple and easy. When someone sends an email with an attachment, one is
using the cloud. All information in the office can be stored in the cloud, so
when the lawyer wants to get a particular file, he does not need to ask someone
in the office to email the file to him. All he needs do is to “embrace the
cloud.”
Cloud devices in use are: Dropbox or Google Drive – to host some
or all of the lawyer’s digital files on their servers. These files can be
accessed from anywhere anytime, even with a smartphone or an iPad. So, the
lawyer should think of the cloud as universal access to all of his documents
and files.
If the information is still only in paper form, then it is not
going to be available via the cloud, and that is why the information/documents
should be converted to PDF and uploaded to Dropbox, which is the lawyer’s
practice management software, or anywhere else online. This will help save time
and get the lawyer to a profitable law practice.
Automation can be used to turn on lights and to send us reminders.
But digital automation can be used for many other things. The real power of
modern digital technology comes from automation. The most common tasks for
lawyers involve generating documents. These are pleadings, contracts,
affidavits, e-mail correspondences, routine forms and written addresses. Much
of these could be automated. The InfusionSoft could be used for this
automation. However, finding an expert who specializes in it is also
recommended.
6.9 Paying Attention to Security
The lawyer needs to pay attention to how to keep his digital
information secure. Part of this security is making sure that the data is not
inadvertently deleted or lost. Another part is protecting the data against
interception by hackers. Hackers attack can affect every kind of law firm.
Hackers are dangerous. They use automated software to enter into another
person’s computer. They also use very effective psychological manipulation to
gain entry into someone’s computer, which they have automated as well.
When the lawyer practices law without constantly being tied to a
desk in the office, he is said to be engaged in mobile lawyering. Embracing the
cloud is an example of it. Today, one no longer remains in his office, unless
that is the best place to get the work done. Sometimes we have to work away
from the office because it is inconvenient to drive into the office. We can
simply open up our laptop or smartphone and send out e-mails that need to be
answered.
When in court, the lawyer may need to quickly pull up a case the
opponent cited, or find case law that contradicts the opponent’s assertion. The
lawyer is able to do this because, he has access to his information anywhere
anytime. The amount of work which can be done with a smartphone or a laptop and
an internet connection is amazing.
The lawyer should not work as an island. He needs to hire
assistants, either on part-time basis or full-time. Where there is no steady
electricity supply, a good electrical technician should be handy. Software
engineers too should be outsourced to make the digital office easy to operate
and work with. Hiring assistants who can work virtually using cloud tools is
the way to go.
I have decided to add fortune or luck because of our respective
religious backgrounds. Our belief systems have impressed in us at one point in
time or the other that turns and courses of luck accompanying our progress in
life contributes to our achievement of certain desired positions in life. The
Holy Bible bears out the fate of Christians just like Jeremiah while Ola
Rotimi’s ‘The gods are not to blame’, showcases fortune in the African
traditional setting. I will conclude this by reference to a story told by the
learned sage – Afe Babalola. He said a certain junior counsel in England went
to his principal and asked to know how to succeed in law practice. The
principal, who is a Queen’s Counsel advised him to be polite, hardworking,
treat every case as the most important case of his life etc. The junior counsel
started his law practice and ensured that he complied with all that he was
told. About 10 years later he was still not successful and came back to his
former principal – the QC – and narrated his predicament. The QC responded
thus: ‘I am sorry I caused it all. I forgot to tell you one more thing, you
should also ask for good luck’.
In this paper, I have considered what it takes to build not just a
law practice but building law practice in contemporary times. This goes to the
heart of the paper, which examines and answers the question: How can the
contemporary lawyer attract or find clients?
In examining and answering this question, I identified technology
(online/virtual/digital technology) and discussed how the contemporary lawyer
can transform his practice by embracing digital technology to cope with the
taste of legal consumers.
It is a fact that, law firms today face more pressure to perform
better, show deeper business acumen and drive greater productivity. In order to
stay relevant in today’s consumer market, lawyers need to adapt. While relying
on word of mouth to get some clients, there is a greater market online. Look to
it and tap from it.
The points highlighted in this paper are, however, not exhaustive
as they are just the minimum content of what a legal practitioner must do to
build a successful law practice in the 21st century.
Thank you all for your audience and kind patience.