This programme enables law school students to see the practical view of principles of law taught in the four walls of the class room, but one should not be carried away with the intricacies of practice and lose sight of what is to be learnt for the BAR finals. ‘Baby Lawyers’ is used in this context to mean law school students on attachment preparing for BAR finals, matured enough not to be called students but still yet to be considered by the Council of Legal Education as fit and proper to be a legal practitioner as defined by Section {4} and {7} of the Legal Practitioners Act {2007}. At this point a ‘baby lawyer’ feels he has read enough and knows the law so much that he would be quick to quote one legal maxim or authority to support his submission. The first important thing a ‘baby lawyer’ needs to watch out for during court and chamber attachment is the practicability of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the real life situation. One must strive to understand the decorum observed during court proceedings, the relationship of counsels with clients, his fellow colleagues and the court. A ‘baby lawyer’ at this stage should know that the foundation of the legal profession is based on seniority at the BAR, meaning when you eventually get called you would still be a junior to those already called as such, give respect to whom respect is due. Don’t be quick to condemn certain practice attitude of some lawyers you would come across that don’t meet expectation, focus only on the practise of law that touches on principles taught in class. Unfortunately some ‘baby lawyers’ would allow the ‘ginger’ currently running through their body at the moment to derail them from that which ought to be learnt for the BAR finals, at this point a ‘baby lawyer’ feels he can do better than some lawyers he sees in court forgetting that ‘Na from clap dem dey start dance’. Wait for your time, be calm and humble yourself by focusing on passing the BAR finals first then you can come and do better. For starters, don’t try to replace what you are taught in class with the practical aspect of law in the Nigerian Legal System, restrict yourself to the scenarios given by your lecturers, don’t be over zealous to every case file you come across either during court or chamber attachments. A ‘baby lawyer’s’ primary concern should be how to score great points in his or her portfolio assessment when you return back to school, try to differentiate what is important for you at this stage for the BAR finals from the other aspects reserved for practising lawyers. The stories heard about BAR finals and the fear of it is one major contributor why some fail the finals. A ‘baby lawyer’ should not allow this cautious spirit to give access to confusion at this point, a serious ‘baby lawyer’ ought to be through with his first reading during the court and chamber attachment. He/she should by now know how to draft and move a motion, how to draft affidavits with proper heading, suit number and not forgetting dates, written addresses, letters on behalf of a client, how to draft deeds et al. Court and Chamber attachment is a time serious minded ‘baby lawyers’ use to be conversant with their drafting skills, as a matter of fact, at this stage one should know at least 60% of his/her drafting at their finger tips, the legal profession is a way of life not something one ceases to be after a certain number of years. It will therefore be erroneous for one to think one is learning the drafting skills just for exam purposes. The death of fear is to do that which you fear, don’t allow fear undermine your capability of passing the BAR finals with good grades. If you are the type that only needs to read twice to understand, please read twice, if you are the type that needs to read thirty times to fully comprehend, don’t read twenty nine times, be patient and read it thirty times. While preparing for the BAR finals, don’t be too uptight, free your mind, relax and read your books thoroughly, don’t be too in a haste to become a lawyer that you fail the BAR finals. Wish you all best of luck!]]>