Finding Your Feet In Shifting Times

By Auta Nyada

The subject matter of discourse which narrows down to Creating opportunities for lawyers in difficult times, at first glance may appear like an ideal title for a motivational speaker who is of Nigerian extraction, particularly if one takes into cognizance the fact that inflation rate in the Country according to the Central Bank of Nigeria as at today, stands at 17.93%, which has motivated the economy to bite harder than ever, and the level of insecurity which is suffocating the ease of doing business for lawyers across the land, suffice it to say we all know what time of the day it is in our dear Country. In the face of all the travails we are faced with, I dare to say “a problem is a chance for you to do your best” and also that “it is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed”.

It is in understanding that we all love the light for it shows us the way, yet we will endure the darkness for it will show us the stars, that I have made a humble attempt to summarize my thoughts on strategies that can be deployed in ensuring that colleagues do not sink into oblivion, in the face of shrinking resources, insecurity, mind burgling inflation, Covid-19 restrictions, just to mention a few inhibitions on our daily strive to be the best that we can be. To my mind the only way-out for us as Legal Practitioners, is to look unto incipient areas of practice which have emerged in the Legal market, such as Financial restructuring, Recovery, Energy law, Intellectual property law, and Tax law regimes. May I quickly draw our attention to the fact that some of these practice area have been present for some time, but still offer wide opportunities for lawyers and law firms today.

INTERLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual Property law is a field of commercial law practice that has been with humanity for a very long time, and striking is how this area of law has evolved with the human race and suffice it to say its relevance will perhaps outlive the human race. This area of law offers several opportunities for lawyers because with economic diversification, comes growth in other industries like, entertainment, energy, solid minerals, communication, transportation, technology and the environmental law. All these industries require peculiar legal expertise in handling legal matters that often come up and points to the increasing advisory role of a lawyer to advise on investments, copyright/patent protection, regulatory compliance and legal risk assessment. Should a lawyer opt for this age long means of subsistence, JUSUN strike will not bite as hard as it did a few months ago.

TAXATION

Without a doubt most legal practitioners endured an amiable and perhaps boring lecture, on the law of taxation during their ungraduated days and perhaps some of us just studied the course outline just so we could pass with good grades and boost our CGPA, with the sole intent to make us viable for an offer of that glorious job opportunity with Mobil Exxon, Chevron, NNPC, or some prominent Multi-national company. Now that the chips are down and all of those lofty dreams have been subjected to some harsh reality, good ole law of Taxation is here to bring back all of that seemingly lost hope to reality. With the growing emphasis on increasing government revenue, the government has gotten more serious with taxation. So also business owners are keener on tax avoidance. This fuels a lot of opportunity for lawyers. Insightful understanding of relevant tax laws is important. It may also be necessary to consider undertaking professional training in the field of taxation. There is the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) offering such professional training, and an endless reserve of Tax laws material on the internet which can be a ready guide for any interested and intending Tax law expert. Nigeria has a number of taxation laws, which are constantly updated. Early this year, the Finance Act was signed into law, which goes to show the seriousness on the part of the government to increase revenue through taxation. Permit me to humbly say that this area of Law is a liquid goldmine waiting to be explored by the Legal profession.

Corporate/Commercial Law Practice

My Humble view is that this area of legal practice goes beyond drafting Deeds, Assignments, Contracts and Company registration. Corporate/Commercial Law being referred to includes all fields of corporate advisory services like: Maritime law, procurement and issuance of Debentures, Corporate Finance, Corporate  Bye-in and Bye-outs, Corporate takeover, Corporate Restructuring, preparing Board packs, Winding up Companies, Acquisition and Disposing shares, acting as promoters of companies, acting as liquidators of companies, and other forms of commercial transactions. Businesses springs up every day, the advisory role of a Lawyer is very much needed whenever the business owner needs to finance his business, either as a startup or as a going concern. To be a corporate finance lawyer, a good understanding of national and international finance laws and rules, and knowledge in corporate laws and practices is required. This field requires constant interfacing with regulatory bodies and financial institutions, luckily the internet offers comfort in this regard. Embedded in this field of practice are contract law, securities law, banking law, corporate law and competition laws. Corporate restructuring focuses on how businesses can be legally re-organized. It ranges from mergers and acquisition to liquidation. Other related fields of practice includes bankruptcy law, corporate law, insolvency, debt financing, securities law, and litigation.

No doubt, opportunities afforded by the emerging markets as stated above abound for every lawyer, particularly young lawyers, to take advantage of. However, many lawyers are still in the traditional old school practice model, i.e. litigation through the Court. To be honest, chief among the reasons for the low participation of lawyers in the emerging fields of practice is unemployment. Thousands of lawyers are called to the Nigerian bar every year, but there is little or no jobs to cater for all. Closely linked to the unemployment problem is the fact that the key players in these markets cannot employ every one interested in practicing in these areas. However, I bring good news to lawyers across the Country: the emerging areas as stated above can be delved into and properly explored through the sole dependence and instrumentality of the internet and that alone is a major breakthrough for Lawyers of all age and calling.

Continuing Professional Development

The Rule of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007, under Rule 11(1) provides: “A lawyer who wishes to carry on practice as a legal practitioner shall participate in and satisfy the requirements of the mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme operated by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).” This rule goes to show that CPD or Continuing Legal Education (CLE) is a necessity for every lawyer in Nigeria. The need for CLE is enhanced by various technological breakthrough in the world and globalization. CLE trainings usually help in exposing lawyers to the challenges and legal development in other jurisdictions and in the emerging fields. The NBA’s Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE) provides such training to lawyers, and thankfully the Olumide Akpata led administration has been hands-on in this regard and Lawyers are encouraged to participate in these very robust, engaging and enlightening CLE sessions being organized by the NBA. In the same vein, the Nigerian Bar Association Sections and Branches, organizes several online conferences and workshops that lawyers can attend. Several top-tier law firms also hold symposiums on key topics in the emerging fields.

As earlier stated, this article is a humble attempt to present a brief overview on the subject matter of discourse. In the coming months, I shall present more elaborate discourse on each of the subject matters noted in this article. God bless NBA, and God bless Nigeria.

Mr. Auta Nyada, Writes from Abuja.