Law Week 2021: Lawyers Need To Take Advantage Of Technology NBA Lagos Branch Chair, Mr Yemi Akangbe

*Innovations Are Catalysts For Any Sustainable Progress
*Lawyers Should Reposition And Determine How Legal Profession Can Move Alongside A Fast-Moving Society

The Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association commenced its Law Week on the 23^rd of July, 2021. This year’s Law Week which is billed to hold between the 23^rd to 29^th of July 2021 with the theme “Disruption, Innovation and the Bar”, offers to shed light on how technology can change the key legal and social issues affecting the legal space and the practice of law in Nigeria.

The Chairman of the Lagos Branch noted these in his Welcome Speech delivered on the 26^th of July 2021 noted that the conference comes at a time when all sectors of the world economy are being disrupted by technology and it is, therefore, considered critical for lawyers to, in view of these disruptions, reflect, reposition and determine how the legal profession can move alongside a fast-moving society. It is not surprising that erudite legal practitioners and Jurists from within and outside Lagos have been invited to deliberate on the topics to be discussed during the 8 plenary sessions of this conference.

See his full speech below:

The Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justices of the Court of Appeal, Honourable Chief Judge of the High Court of Lagos State, Judges of the High Court of Lagos State, and Judges of the Federal High Court, Honourable Attorneys-General of Lagos and Ekiti States, President of the Nigeria Bar Association, Members of the Body of Benchers, learned Senior Advocates of Nigeria, distinguished members of the Nigerian Bar, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 2021 Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos Branch Law Week. I commend the efforts of Ms. Efe Etomi, Mr Dapo Akinosun, SAN (the Chair and the Co-Chair) and all members of the Law Week Planning Committee (the Committee) for organizing this event in a relatively seamless manner. I should also commend the Committee for coming up with the theme of the event “Disruption, Innovation and the Bar”. Lord Denning MR , as he then was, in Gourriet v Union of Post Office Workers said

“If we never do anything which has not been done before, we shall never get anywhere. The law will stand still while the rest of the world goes on, and that will be bad for both.” It would be rather unfortunate if, with our level of enlightenment, we are found to be standing still in the face of aggressive technological and other innovative advancements. Innovations are catalysts for any sustainable progress and the Bar should aim to reflect, reposition and embrace the disruption that would, naturally result from innovation.

This conference comes at a time when all sectors of the world economy are being disrupted by technology. It is, therefore, considered critical for lawyers to, in view of these disruptions, reflect, reposition and determine how the legal profession can move alongside a fast-moving society. It is not surprising that erudite legal practitioners and Jurists from within and outside Lagos have been invited to deliberate on the topics to be discussed during the 8 plenary sessions of this conference. During the course of the 2 day technical sessions, the panelists would interrogate issues around the effect of innovation and technology affecting the status quo as well as the future of legal practice. For instance, the effect COVID-19 pandemic has provoked certain adjustments to our daily lives and legal practice. In the session that deals with these issues, we hope to hear deliberations on how we can create dynamic systems that are effective for the times, create greater efficiency and help in delivering premium service for clients. L urge you all to participate actively in the discussions and I have no doubt in my mind, that this conference would be of immense value to all policy makers and members of the bar and society at large.

On a final note, I must commend the NBA ably led by Mr. Olumide Akpata on its efforts regarding remuneration and scale of charges for lawyers. This effort will have a beneficial impact on the welfare of lawyers, especially the young, and the standard of law firms in Nigeria as a whole. Once again, I welcome you all to this occasion.