*Says NBA Frowns At Issues Like This
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A concerned legal Practitioner, Chidi Jude Dimgba, has paid a visit to the Office Of Prepaid Legal Service Nigeria Limited offering legal services for as low as N3, 000.
Joyce Ochuole, while being interviewed informed Dimgba that the company is a legal referral outfit.
Recall that the same lady Joyce Ochuola was whom THENIGERIALAYER spoke with on Tuesday night while trying to ascertain the status of the company and the flyer.
Read their conversation below
As a legal practitioner, I found the contents on the flier disturbing when I saw it yesterday.
So, today, at about 11:00 am, I visited the office.
The address on the flier is correct.
Upon my arrival, I met a man and a lady. While the man looked like someone in his 40s the lady should be in her 30s.
The office, where Prepaid Legal Service Nigeria Limited is located, is into the sale and maintenance of printers, stationery and related items.
I greeted them, introduced myself as a lawyer and asked to speak with the person in charge of Prepaid Legal Service Nigeria Limited. They had several copies of the flyer with them when I arrived.
The lady said I could speak with her. Then she took me to a private office.
I told her I was a lawyer and was interested in finding out about the company. She told me that her name is Joy Ochole.
JOY: (Sounding tensed.) Okay, what we do is that when you come to us, we have you registered. There are different packages.
If you then have any issue -police case, divorce, any legal issue- we’ll connect you with our lawyers, who’ll then offer you the legal services.
You don’t pay us anything.
DIMGBA: Let me understand you. You act as a link between your clients and your lawyers, right?
JOY: Yes.
DIMGBA: So, your lawyers then charge these clients their professional fees?
JOY: Yes.
DIMGBA: From my experiences as a lawyer, the Corporate Affairs Commission won’t register this kind of company without the company having a lawyer as one of its directors.
So, tell me. How many directors do you have in this company?
JOY: Two (hesitantly).
DIMGBA: Is a lawyer one of the directors?
JOY: Yes. Is there any problem?
By this time, she was visibly weak, but I needed to make her calm while I probed her for more information.
DIMGBA: There are many of us who saw the soft copy of your flyer. I’m sure you received calls yesterday.
JOY: About 4 to 5 people called me yesterday.
DIMGBA: I decided to visit instead. We (lawyers) may not have any issue with you for the name of your company. That is an issue with the CAC.
However, the particulars of the businesses you do and the services you provide are the things that got us very much interested about your company.
There are things, according to the law, that only lawyers are allowed to do. Any other person that renders such services would be breaking the law.
You know there’s something they say that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Your services offend the law.
JOY: What should be done now?
DIMGBA: Well, you’re not my client. So, I can’t give you any legal advice on this issue. Your oga (the lawyer) should consult with fellow lawyers and do the right thing.
The NBA takes issues that bring the profession into disrepute seriously. Let him (the lawyer-director) act fast.
Joy thanked me and asked for my phone number, and I gave her my call card.
Coincidentally, the suite of my Firm is on the same plaza.
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