The
given topic comprises of rather general terms which, I perceive,
collaboratively tackles the theme: The Survival of the Modern Nigerian Lawyer
in a world getting faster and faster.
Globally, the twenty first century is
characterised by spontaneity, change, speed, increased efficiency and effectiveness,
development, serendipity, novelty, freshness....These have saturated almost
every human concern. Also in this light, the world has witnessed a rather
interesting stretch in the scope of tasks that are well within the career
prospects or can be part of the job description of the twenty first century
lawyer. Fortunately, this diversification equally applies to the twenty first
century Nigerian lawyer.
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| Photo from the movie 'The Great Debaters' |
Before
this flash age, lawyers merely played the roles of litigators and
intermediaries between the state and society, as advocates, advisers,
solicitors, teachers and custodians of the law. This is more so the case as
they focused primarily on the ‘practice of law’- litigation. However, the late
Larry E. Ridstein in his paper ‘Practising Theory: Legal Education for the
Twenty First Century’ speculated that in the twenty first century lawyers may
fill five new roles.[1]
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| Photo from the movie 'The Great Debaters.' |
These
five specified roles were those of: Collaborator(carrying out transactional
work alongside professionals from other fields
in multidisciplinary establishments instead of just purely legal ones);
Manufacturer (developing and producing off-the-shelf, brilliant solutions for
as wide a market as possible as opposed to only drafting and interpreting
documents for his/her clients); Law Maker (managing and overseeing the
enactment of new regulations such as in the course of the mediation process);
Information Engineer ( as an information broker; using the increasing ability to make more accurate predictions
of legal results; the use of computers in predictive and data analysis;
creation and maintenance of legal software); Capitalist (making money from
being able to play a support role in the research and evaluation of the
probability and values of legal cases). Fortunately, most of these- and much
more- are already in play. Interestingly, this does not mean that the modern
legal practitioner has to abandon his/her regular tasks as these additions fortify
his capability to be more efficient and effectiveness in his/her delivery.
However,
increasingly, in the twenty first century, some lawyers are moving out of law
firms and court rooms into new legal practice settings as leaders in government
and actors in political scenes. They are also moving into quasi-legal roles in lucrative
part-legal and part-business ventures such as freelance research and journalism
by way of putting up their well researched articles in the regular print media,
online media and even for publications at international conferences. It is
pertinent to note here that the litigation license obtained at the Law School
is not as important as the solid background of good legal training- undergraduate,
post graduate and personal studies.[2]
Consequently,
in today’s Nigeria, there are so many legit paying ventures that the Nigerian
lawyers can participate in within Nigeria and internationally, within the scope
of the legal profession- especially as it is now strapped around the growing
interest and need for computer literacy; internet compatibility; speed and
creativity.
As
a legal practitioner in the twenty first century, the first points of call as
regards career prospects is serendipity, openness, respect out of courtesy-
instead of an unwise over reliance- for vintage solutions. By this, I refer to a constant appreciation and
articulation of the evolving society- and the world at large- in order to
always be in the know of the needs of the current age and the legal- and
professional-solutions that are needed – and more in demand.
With
this taken care of, such a practitioner can then move on to his role as
manufacturer of these needed solutions. Some of these unique solutions which
are in demand in the twenty first century are instant responses to occurrences
in our community (both nationally and internationally) outlining the legal
issues, consequences and recommendations. Furthermore, there is the need to
make those instant moves through instant methods which are twenty-first century
compatible and well sought after media such as blogs, vlogs and status updates
on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
More
in this light, the lawyers may avail themselves as cyber secretaries or
assistants for freelance research jobs online wherein they are paid to conduct
research on certain themes and titles by interested parties over the internet
on websites such ‘www.freelance.com’. Also the lawyer can connect interdependently
with other professionals (both legal and non-legal) within Nigeria and
internationally over social networks to organise webinars to sensitise the
public on some salient issues and solutions (both legal and non-legal) that
they should know about. They could also establish, maintain and monetize an
online electronic audio-visual libraries- which may also host written text
materials- either on a wide range of subjects-or something specific- thereby
making available simpler, faster and more comprehensive materials for public
consumption. An instance of this is the United Nations Audio-Visual Library on
‘www.un.org/law/avl’.
Further
in this light, the rigours of human rights activism are further simplified as
legal practitioners and activists can carry out their activism through amassing
support for human rights courses through social networks (Facebook, Twitter,
Googleplus) and the websites of Non Governmental Organisations such as Amnesty
International on ‘www.amnesty.com’. Thus, with constant contribution to
humanity through novel methods, a Nigerian lawyer simultaneously creates more publicity
for himself and his services and further prepares himself for job opportunities
in various capacities in international establishments such as the United
Nations, African Union and international courts and tribunals.
It
is fair to point out that this stretch in the economy of the legal profession
is not just a function of the time that we are in, but also that of the demand
and necessities that have risen in this time. Clearly and increasingly, a
reasonable portion of these are demands cannot be met by learned gentlemen, but
by the learning ones who are not scared to embrace serendipity in a world that
hardly ever stops changing. As such the legal education system at the Nigerian
Law School- as well as those of other jurisdictions- inclines towards this by
adopting a rather proactive academic curriculum which engages the Nigerian Law
Students academically, practically and mentally in preparation for the very
vast- and still diversifying- window of opportunities and possibilities that are
already here.
Globally,
the twenty-first century lawyer’s career prospect is marked by change – and the
embrace of that which is fierce, and increasingly stretches from the convenient
and familiar. Then again, as Lord Denning put it, ‘... if we never do anything
which has not been done before, we shall never get anywhere. The law will stand
still whilst the rest of the world goes on and that will be bad for both.’
Nonetheless,
the Modern Nigerian Lawyer is bestowed with a greater need and responsibility
to be cautious in the light of knowing when, where and how to draw the line in
order to preserve the professionalism in the legal profession even while
seeking and producing modern solutions in this modern age. But then, it is fair
to say that the professionalism and survival of the modern Nigerian Legal
Practitioner seems to have stretched from being just black and white to
incorporate several other fresh and interesting shades of grey.
[1]
Lee, Keith, Five New Roles For Lawyers in the 21st Century, http://associatesmind.com/2013/03/07/five-new-roles
-for-lawyers -in-the-21st-century/(retrieved on 08/05/2013).
[2]
Penus, Dana, Out of Practice: The Twenty- First Century Legal Profession
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