Open Letter To New Wigs On How To Be A Nigerian Lawyer

By Becky Izioma Dike

Call to Bar happens every other year but I was particularly expecting yours because of the delays leading up to the D day plus I had a few friends get called, thus vested interest.

I sat with one of your call mates after the ceremony and while we spoke, he made comments about someone who had dampened the excitement of your call day by asking ‘so after call, what next?’. We laughed over the insinuating remark that wouldn’t even let y’all get a break and enjoy the day. But in my heart, I knew that was a valid question.

I believe anyone who has been a lawyer for even less than a year would have something to tell you, but I’ll speak from my 2 years experience lawyering in Nigeria.

1. You’re good enough: Before anything else, I would say that no matter your grade at the law school, you are good enough!

If you need to repeat this phrase every day before you step out of your house, then by all means, say it until you wrap your mind around it

You have been called to the largest bar in Africa, you’re a Barrister & Solicitor of the Supreme Court and you’re good enough to succeed in the profession; you’ve earned your sit at the table of nobles, let this sink in your mind before you continue this piece.

2. Refocus your mind and set goals: You’re a lawyer now. By all means brag about it and claim your title Esq., but there’s something else you must do. Realign your mindset and vision, consciously decide to learn and develop your career. Lawyering is not a walk in the park but just like every successful thing, you need a plan to make the best out of your journey. Get yourself a vision board if you will or write out your plans, whatever works for you. But I’ll advice that you make it plain to your eyes, and take note that this plan is subject to change as you become more exposed to practice.

I congratulate you because you set your mind to it, passed the bar exams and got called so you’ll just have to do for a lifetime what you did in 9 months at the law school; Focus on your journey, forsaking all others!

I’ll say something about your present state of euphoria; A book I read, ‘The one thing’, by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan convinced me that ‘willpower isn’t on will-call’. What this means is that even though you are so determined starting this journey and your willpower right now could bring down the roof, the reality is that you’ll need more than willpower for the next many years of this profession. It’s not about today or tomorrow or one month or 6 months; it’s a lifetime of your career, 8 hours of each day of your life, on the average, will be spent lawyering. More than willpower, you’ll need ‘discipline’ for each and every day and a plan will come in handy to achieve that.

3. Opportunities abound, find and grab them: Don’t limit yourself. If you actively did your externship and/or are active on LinkedIn, you would know by now that lawyering isn’t only about arguing in court and winning cases.

Litigation is a thing but it’s not the only thing. There are many other Practice areas you can hop on and become an expert. Be on the look out for opportunities.

There’s a place for every lawyer in the profession, you just need to keep an open mind, find it and stick to it.

In my opinion and giving the diverse nature of the curriculum from which you’ve been birthed, now’s not the time to specialize your practice but by all means, do that if you’re certain about it.

Having said that, don’t be shy to connect with people online & offline, introduce yourself and propose working for them. Many eyes are on you right now and people are willing to help a ‘new wig’, make good use of the attention.

4. Everyday is a new day: Sequel to point 2 above, take note that everyday is a new day. Some days, you’ll feel on top of your world and in charge of your life and plans. Some other days, you wouldn’t want to get up from bed or make any moves. Some days the pressure from life, friends, success and everything else will get to you and make you want to settle for just anything that comes.

In those days, stand up, show up and give your best at whatever you’re doing! Whilst still planning for whatever your heart desires.

Make good use of every day, your tomorrow will thank you.

5. Your dream job shouldn’t meet you unprepared: Every lawyer has a dream job; your dream firm or company also has a dream candidate.

With that in mind, you’ll need to take steps to become that dream candidate i.e. become the choice for the job by gaining skills needed for the job, aligning your CV and cover letter to fit the description, gaining experience relevant to a 21^st century workplace.

Thus keep learning and upskilling yourself. This is not the end, it’s just the beginning of something greater.

Having all of this in mind will help you prepare yourself for whenever opportunities come your way.

6. Be visible: You would need to be visible to employers, colleagues & clients. One way to achieve this is by researching & writing on various topics of interests, publishing well informed contents on LinkedIn, thenigerialawyers.com and many other platforms. This way, you get to reach a wide audience and build a personal brand alongside your employment when you do have one. Albeit a new wig, your opinion on issues should be well informed, so if you must speak and write about issues, speak from a place of knowledge. No doubt this would mean researching on these issues, properly understanding laws you speak about, etc.

Also, don’t be a stranger to your colleagues at all levels. There are available platforms where you can rub minds with other lawyers, get informed and grow your career. Some of them are  Strictly Law Business, Legal Development group chat, Legally Curious. With these platforms, you can network with other lawyers and also find career opportunities for growth.

7. The sky is not your limit; there is no limit: Detoxify your mind of every limiting thoughts. Theres no limits, new heights are being gained every day. Lawyers are opening shops in new practice areas daily.

That being said, the legal profession welcomes you with open arms.

Some people say we are too many in this profession while others are of the opinion that Nigerian lawyers are overcrowding the more popular practice areas and leaving others untended.

I’ll have you know one thing; out of a population of over 200 million persons in Nigeria, lawyers alive and practicing in Nigeria do not make up for 0.1% of the population. Thus the number of lawyers in Nigeria doesn’t cover for the entire Nigerian population.

I guess what I’m saying is, don’t be scared, put in your best and control what you can. And if you have any faith, trust and leave the rest to God!