“The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do” – unknown
A lecturer in the Nigerian Law School, Lagos campus in a bid to boost self-confidence would tell students to be bold in answering questions whether they believed the answer was right or wrong anytime the microphone gets to them.

Once a young lawyer believes in an idea or principle of law, he should be bold enough to say it out with conviction, why conceive the thought in the first place only to be shy of bringing it out? There is a reason we don’t light a candle, put it under the bed and expect it to glow.

Self-confidence would bring about positive thought and approach to the practice of law, if a young lawyer can be confident about his practice of law in the legal profession, such gentleman would realise his mistake early in the day and work to amend his ways, the fear of failure can make someone stagnant in a particular position for too long because you don’t have the self-confidence to take the necessary steps.

The feeling of ‘am not good enough’ has taken some young lawyers into a shell that is ill advised for those in the grooming stage of practice; it is so bad that some would have an opinion about a particular legal solution but keep mute about it because of fear of rejection. How does one know if what we conceive in our minds is true or false if we keep it to ourselves? The best method is to let it out for other listeners to think and ponder upon the idea or opinion, and make corrections where necessary.

Fear of the unknown has placed an imaginary limitation on the competence of a young lawyer, this in turn leads to self-doubt on the lawyer on whether he can actually deliver on the job or not thus affecting his performance. This fear of ‘what if am wrong?’ or what if they don’t agree with me?’ most often hampers one’s ability to speak eloquently in addressing the courts of law or the general public.

The aura of a gentleman should speak confidence, in appearance, speech and movements. The life of a lawyer is all about communication with the society, be it negotiation with parties and their solicitors, addressing the court on behalf of a client or relating with fellow colleagues, be confident in yourself.

According to research, “lack of self-confidence is related to a number of emotional and mental well-being that affects all aspects of one’s life.

People with low self-esteem have more trouble dealing with failure or what they perceive to be failure; they tend to experience social anxiety, making social interaction more difficult and stressful than they should be.”
When communicating to the society as a lawyer about a particular idea or legal solution, we ought to present an outlook to the public that we {the conceivers of the idea} believe in it, for a man must first convince himself before he can convince others. A client who senses that his lawyer doubts himself would also follow suit and then see reason why they need the services of another lawyer!.

While it is true that some young lawyers are naturally timid and don’t have the courage to express themselves, it is imperative and business wise that we voice out our opinion no matter the pressure or current situation.
This writer is not encouraging young lawyers to be arrogant or pompous in the way they conduct their affairs or be over confident {too much of everything is bad}. No, my advice is that, young lawyers no matter the year of call should be confident enough to relate with lay men and colleagues alike in a manner that would show that such young lawyer knows what he is doing. That is one way we can attract clientele to ourselves.

The New Year is all about doing things differently; let us play our own part to ensuring that 2016 is better than the last.

Happy New Year and Godspeed!
Do send your comment{s}, observation{s} and recommendation{s} to danielbulusson@gmail.com or like us on www.facebook.com/younglaywerscolumn

"Exciting news! TheNigeriaLawyer is now on WhatsApp Channels 🚀 Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest legal insights!" Click here! ....................................................................................................................... Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material and other digital content on this website, in whole or in part, without express and written permission from TheNigeriaLawyer, is strictly prohibited _________________________________________________________________ [Register Now] ILA Nigeria Branch Marks 10 Years With Infrastructure Financing As Theme For 7th Annual Conference The International Law Association - Nigeria Branch 7th annual conference on public-private partnerships for sustainable infrastructure financing, April 4-5 in Abuja. Details: https://ilanigeria.org.ng/conference _________________________________________________________________

NIALS' Compendia Series: Your One-Stop Solution For Navigating Nigerian Laws (2004-2023)

Email: info@nials.edu.ng, tugomak@yahoo.co.uk, Contact: For Inquiry and information, kindly contact, NIALS Director of Marketing: +2348074128732, +2348100363602.