NBA-SBL Launches Competency Framework For Law Firms

In a bid to set standards and raise the level of proficiency across law firms in Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law, NBA-SBL, has launched a competency framework.

The competency framework will be focused on five core areas some of which include Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, intellectual property, business and finance, and corporate law.

Speaking at the launch of the event in Lagos, Seni Adio, SAN, Chairman NBA-SBL said legal firms will need to look at the competency framework, customize it to suit their peculiar purposes and try as much as possible to implement the document.

Adio said the document is a starting point and once NBA-SBL makes the criteria for success transparent, it behooves on the law firms and senior members of those firms to also adhere to those standards because it is empirical for both sides.

He disclosed that aside from the five core areas the framework is addressing, NBA-SBL may in future venture into other areas like maritime and agriculture amongst others.

During his keynote address, Tosin Okojie said, competency frameworks are very exciting part of any business because they help to set objective standards for people.

“The framework will be very helpful for the legal practice because it sets minimum standards for lawyers across the country. So regardless of where you are in the country, you know what is expected of you as a business lawyer in terms of your soft skills, technical skills, and your general legal competencies as well.

“It raises the level of proficiency within the industry because it sets minimum standards. As a lawyer, you are able to chart your career path and figure out what things you need to learn, develop and grow on so that you can be more successful, based on the experience of those that have gone before,” Okojie said.

He assured that with the competency framework, law firms are able to manage their people more effectively and make them grow and develop better because there is a clear standard of what needs to be done.

For Adeoye Adefulu, secretary NBA-SBL, the idea behind the competency framework is to put a system behind how people are recruited, promoted and identify talents in the legal industry.

Adefulu stated that the position of NBA-SBL is to share that information with all the members of the SBL.

“As a member of the SBL, the competency framework is going to be placed on the SBL portal and it will be available to every member for free and each firm can then take that on and design their recruitment processes, performance evaluation and promotion processes in accordance with the principles of the competency framework and each firm can tweak it to match what they prioritise as important for them,” he explained.

Speaking on the time frame to measure targets and implementations of the framework, Adefulu stressed that it is the responsibility of each firm to want to be better and the more they adopt the framework, the better they will get and this will also include their associates and partners.

He explained that the result of implementing the framework will reflect in the kind of work that people are doing and the satisfaction that their clients will have.

“I think if we have this base level development across all law firms. It will begin to show. What we will do as we roll this out is after a while starts asking firms questions on how they are finding the process and what their challenges are.

“We are a not for profit organisation and it is very expensive to do this and we hope that with the support of the law firms that are in SBL and our members, we can carry out the evaluation of the adoption of the framework, Adefulu added.

For Ayuli Jemide, vice-chair of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law, the competency framework will help know how competent people are on different levels.

Jemide said with this framework, firms will know people who are ticking the boxes as associates and senior associates and it is no longer about whether you know a partner, but about who is competent.

“So we have a framework to help know whether you are due for promotion. It is transparent as all firms can use it and work with it. It will help you in your corporate governance as a law firm.

“At the end of the day, you have less rancor as to why one person was promoted and not the other. If things are a bit more transparent and people are able to see where they are at a particular point, what boxes they need to stick to move to the next level, that will be a great success,” he noted.

He stated that beyond this, it will challenge young lawyers or lawyers at every level to get better and become better professionals because they now know what they need to do to really say they are competent at their job.