#NBASBL2022: Stakeholders Call For Synergy Among In-House And External Counsel, Charge Lawyers To Leverage On Technology

*External Counsel Should Be Ready To Stick With Firms In Good And Bad Times— NBL/Heineken General Counsel, Uaboi Agbebaku
*External Counsel Should Be Deft In Data privacy, Anti-trust, Cyber security— Ademola, Unilever West Africa General Counsel.
*External Counsel Must Strive Towards Prompt Delivery— Dike
*Lawyers Must Take Advantage Of Technology For Their Practice — Chinwe Odigboegwu
*External Counsel Should Be Receptive Of Feedback On The Content Of Their Legal Opinion And Court Processes — Irene Robinson-Ayanwale,

In house lawyers have called for a synergy, between them and the external lawyers, in order to have a seamless working relationship that will gear towards delivering applausive services to their clients.

The subject was deliberated on Thursday, at the 3^rd plenary session of the 16th Annual Business Law Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) which held in Abuja with the theme “Recent Developments in the Business Law Environment.”

Speaking on the topic, ““In-house & External Counsel Relationship – New Trends and Expectations”, the panelists lamented that many times, there appear to be some form of misunderstanding and/or rivalry between them and the company’s external counsel and this is majorly caused by some avoidable frictions which threaten to transform a rather mutually beneficial relationship into one of rival professionals trying to assert rights and privileges. Even when there are no frictions between the two parties, there are always a few things that both the in house counsel and the external counsel wished were shared by the other that could make their jobs easier.

General Counsel NBL/Heineken, Uaboi Agbebaku, said what his firm considers before engaging or selecting an external lawyer includes; service delivery, being compliant and partnership. He pointed out that delivery on whatever task given to you is paramount. He said the lawyer must be ready to partner with them in a long run both in good and bad times.

Speaking on pitfalls that can lead to disengagement of external counsel, Uaboi, stated that information sharing is key for the client as well as the business. “Share information whether good news or bad news. Hoarding it makes you look bad. When asked for your opinion give us the advice that we are asking for not necessarily the law.”

He also said that the critical issue with in-house is the speed of delivery and when opinions are required they expect the other counsel to be readily available for that. Another challenge he pointed out is getting documents from external counsel, which in most cases the external counsel is pretty occupied with other engagements.

General Counsel West Africa Unilever, Bidemi Ademola, said for her firm, the external counsel must have technical expertise. “The external counsel must have an open mind set in handling emerging risk areas like data privacy, anti-trust, cyber security, ESG.

“They should not stick to the traditional areas of commercial practice but to look at the trend globally and should try to build capability around that. Also, there must be speed in terms of responsiveness, agility, and being able to be nibbled.

“The counsel must also have the ability to think through a situation and provide the solution that the organization is looking for.

“Another aspect is business acumen. Which is wearing the hat of business, wanting to understand that industry and business, such that you can proffer solutions that are relevant and practical.”

On the challenges that in-house counsel face is that, external counsel don’t provides options while giving advice and the other challenge is in the area of budget and cost. “The economic pressure is global and therefore as partners we should plan to get solutions that are most cost-effective for the organization.”

A representative from Mobile Producing Nigeria, Dike, in responding to questions urged the external counsel to ensure they understand the legal questions before they begin as it is critical.

He also stated that the delivery of services within the timeline is very important and “when you can’t deliver within the timeline, the management should be informed as soon as possible.“

Speaking on the role that technology play in choosing an external counsel, Legal Director Guinness Nigeria (Diageo) Chinwe Odigboegwu; said, technology is not about branding, but basics.  “No matter how small your firm is you shouldn’t be communicating to clients using your personal emails.

“Your websites should show what you do and who your lawyers are and the data has to be updated from time to time.

“Covid-19 has taught us that practices that are manual are not sustainable.  Meetings can be held online and documents can be exchanged online as well. The format for which such document is exchanged is very important, I will frown at a lawyer sending me an update on a letterhead in Microsoft word, rather than in PDF. “

She also raised the issues of E-filing as well as using simple basic technologies while dating and signing documents. For the use of advanced technology, she noted that it depends on the size and location of law firms.

On the area of transiting from external counsel to in-house, she urged lawyers to ensure that before the switch is made, it is done for the right reasons. “It has to be for the right reasons, look for the role that when you go in you won’t struggle and you must be humble, be prepare, learn from other lawyers, build your network, go for trainings because the communication style is very key as you will be dealing with different stakeholders. Learn digital marketing, data analytics.

“You are the lawyer but you are more like a business partner. I don’t encourage people to go in-house from the beginning, work In a law firm for at least five years.”

General Counsel Nigerian Exchange Limited, Irene Robinson-Ayanwale, noted that one of the things they have noticed from external counsel is that they are not open to feedback in terms of the content of the opinion they have provided for or court processes they intend filing. She also added that most senior lawyers don’t monitor the young lawyers in their firms.  “We know that we are squeezing you in terms of fees but that’s not an excuse for you to leave the matter solely for the junior counsel.  Keep on engaging us as senior counsel because we will hold you responsible.”

In her conclusion, she urged lawyers to firstly build up their knowledge as general practitioners. “If you do not have work ethics do not come in-house because there’s no place to hide within the in-house team.

“You must be hardworking, committed, research-oriented, humbly and importantly be a subject-matter expert.”

The moderator, Chief Counsel West Africa Cadbury Plc, Fola Akande, noted that technology is more efficient and lawyers have to adapt as there are many tools that are cost-effective.  She also added that compliance, responsiveness, speed delivery are essential in the legal business.

In conclusion, they called for synergy among the counsel, personal development and that lawyers should take good advantage of the new trend to improve their services and practice.