“A Lawyer Must Build ‘The Lawyer-Edifice’ To Succeed.” – By Miracle Akusobi, Esq.

Successful advocacy entails a sound knowledge of the law and a mere academic excellence is not just enough guarantee for success.

Success at the bar demands qualities which should be cultivated along with the study of law, practice of law, good conduct and decorum.

Legal profession is a dignified and enviable vocation and the members of the bar are Learned and Honourable. The pristine, splendour and glory of the profession are the awe and reverence with which the profession is known for. Could it be that a lawyer must be a gentleman to succeed or Could it be that without his gentleman propensity a lawyer cannot succeed only with his academic excellence, sound knowledge of the law and practice of the law?

The threshold of success at the bar demands that a Lawyer must be a gentleman. If he is a gentleman he would be honest, self – respecting, honourable, dignified, courteous, neat and polished in manners and conduct. The ‘learned gentleman’ would radiate in him, in and out of court.

A lawyer must not only be respected, he must be respectable because Lawyers are describable as perfect gentlemen. When a lawyer loses his dignity and honour he becomes ‘a Cow-boy-at-law’. Every lawyer should see himself as a responsible and responsive member of a dignified and honourable profession which has rules, regulations, conventions and traditions which he has to conform in the interest of himself and that of the profession.

Our Association must purge itself of certain ills and ungentlemanly propensities. We should not allow the profession to become a collection of sublime gentlemen and practiced scoundrels; an assortment of respectable dignitaries and despicable ruffians, rogues and rascals. For instance, It a total destruction of the principles of the profession for a member seeking elective post in NBA to purchase votes of the young lawyers by sponsoring them to Annual General Conferences or paying their practising fees with strings attached. It is a mark of gross disrespect for, and patent insult to the members of the bar.

The duty to sustain and enhance the dignity of the legal profession rests on the individual and collective shoulders of all us, but more heavily does it rest on the broad shoulders of those responsible of training lawyers.

In conclusion, legal profession is a rich and revered traditions and every lawyer must build the ‘lawyer-edifice’ such as good conduct and decorum to succeed. This is the inescapable truth, which must be remembered.

MIRACLE AKUSOBI, ESQ., miracleakusobi@gmail.com