Seniority At The Bar And The Overstretch

Revisited August 7, 2023

By Jasper Koikoibo

Introduction

Even practices with the best of intentions turn out to have wicked fruits when welcomed with wrong observance. This appears to be the case with the Seniority at the Bar Rule in Nigeria. Thus, this piece attempts to demystify the Rule. It outlines some conducts that are not envisaged by the rule of law and what the law actually says about Seniority at the Bar, and then concludes that the concept of seniority at the bar has nothing to do with dehumanizing conducts among lawyers and, by necessary implication, among law students.

What is NOT Seniority at the Bar?

The term seniority at the Bar has been so misconceived that it has resulted in a number of arbitrary behaviours in the legal profession both in legal practice and at the level of legal education i.e. among students. Juniors have been heard complaining of the poor treatment given them by their principals and seniors in chambers: of how they are made to work their asses off in return for stipends, of how they are deprived of deserved revenue, sometimes even their appearance fee, and of how they are expected and asked to do all sorts of domestic chores for their principals and seniors in chambers.

But even students have not been left behind in overstretching the Rule. To state one instance, in a general meeting junior students were made to squeeze themselves into a number of desks barely enough for their numbers in the part of the hall where the fans were not working properly, just because a fewer number of senior students occupied the part of the hall with larger number of desk and well working fans.

While instances may have their respective contextual backgrounds, they usually stem from the dominant thinking that all lawyers are not equal and every lawyer will have their bite at the cherry if only they endured long enough. And so the cycle of abuse continues. This is why, to be fair, these abuses could not be possible without the ignorant consent of the juniors, or willing acceptance due to a desperation to have a bite at the cherry someday.

What is Seniority at the Bar?

At its best the Rule of Seniority at the Bar is in no way associated with wickedness. Black’s Law Dictionary, 8^th edition, defines seniority as “preferential status, privileges or rights…” given to one as a result of his being senior and older. The same dictionary defines Bar thus: “the whole body of lawyers qualified to practice in a given court or jurisdiction; the legal profession, or an organized subset of it.” Seniority at the Bar by necessary implication would then mean the status that attracts preference, privileges, or rights by virtue of one’s seniority of enrolment at the Bar.

Whether the rule applies to law studentship is no question. This is because as has been seen, the Bar could mean the entire legal profession or an organized subset of it. Thus, apart from the fact that Legal Education is part of the legal profession, it is a truism that Faculties of Law have organized subsets of it (the profession) in that they have student Bar, Bench and court system.

In speaking of the rule of seniority at the Bar, the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2007 (hereinafter “the RPC”) is a good place to start from. By section 26 of the RPC, all lawyers are of equal status and should treat one another with mutual respect. The RPC, in section 26(2) states that:

Lawyers shall observe among one another the rules of precedence as laid down by the law, and subject to this, all lawyers are to be treated on the basis of equality of status.

“Rules of Precedence”

It is important to take note of the phrase “rules of precedence as laid down by the law”. There is no room for doubt that it is a reference to provisions in extant legislations providing special privileges for lawyers whom have attained the specified qualification, and not some arbitrary conduct exhibited by senior students towards their juniors.

For example, a lawyer must have been in practice for at least ten years and have distinguished themselves in the profession to be qualified for the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). See Guideline 18 of the Guideline for the Conferment of SAN. A lawyer must have been admitted to the Bar for at least fifteen years to be qualified to occupy the post of Chief Justice of Nigeria. See section 231(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), hereinafter “the Constitution”. Similar provisions exist for various judicial officers as well as the post of Attorney-General in the Constitution. Thus, it is on the basis of seniority that elevations within and from the Bar and Bench are made. This is what is meant when it is said that ‘seniority at the Bar is the hallmark of the Judiciary’.

The phrase “rules of precedence as laid down by the law” is also a reference to Section 8(4) of the Legal Practitioners Act (as amended 2014) (hereinafter “the LPA”) which states that:

Legal practitioners in appearing before any court, tribunal or a person exercising jurisdiction conferred by law to hear any matter (including an arbitrator) shall take precedence among themselves according to the table of precedence…

The table of precedence as provided for in the First Schedule to the LPA, in their order of precedence runs thus:

1. The Attorney-General of the Federation;
2. The Attorneys-General of States in order of seniority as Senior Advocates of Nigeria and thereafter in order of seniority of enrolment;
3. Senior Advocates of Nigeria in order of seniority;
4. Persons authorized by the Attorneys-General of Federation and States respectively to practice;
5. Persons whose names are on the Supreme Court roll in order of seniority of enrolment;
6. And finally persons authorized to practice by warrant. It should be pointed out that this table of precedence applies only when appearing in any court, tribunal or before a person with jurisdiction conferred by law.

For the sake of emphasis, this table is associated with the calling of matters during litigation and before tribunals.

Conclusion:

The corollary of the foregoing is that all lawyers are of equal status subject to the rules of precedence as laid down by the law.  The concept of seniority at the bar has nothing to do with dehumanizing conducts among lawyers and, by necessary implication, among law students. There is no justification, therefore, for treating a junior lawyer in a discriminatory or humiliating manner by reason only that he is a junior lawyer. Hence any indulgence in acts that depicts inequality outside of the rules of precedence and the extent permitted by the legal privileges of senior lawyers according to the Constitution is a violation of the RPC and could lead one to appear before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. Remember, before we are lawyers, we are humans. May the law be with us.

Jasper Koikoibo is an undergraduate law student, writer and social critic. He can be reached at jasper.koikoibo@gmail.com