The Good And The Bad Lawyers In The Legal Profession: My Candid Advice For Nigerian Young Lawyers!

By Hameed Ajibola Jimoh Esq.

In the Nigerian legal profession, there are thousands of lawyers already called to bar and enrolled as legal practitioners found in various sectors vis-à-vis the private practice, the public offices, corporate institutions, as judicial officers, etc. Yearly, and years to come, thousands of lawyers are enrolled into the legal profession. However, of all these numbers, there are the good and the bad ones! There are also very unfortunate persons that are non-lawyers but continue to impersonate a lawyer and thereby spoil the ethics of the legal profession more, all in the name of getting advantages accruing to a legal practitioner without being one! This paper aims at a candid advice for Nigerian young lawyers to remain a good ambassador wherever they are and whatever might be the situation- economic or whatever, hence the topic under discourse!

In the legal profession as experienced in Nigeria, there are many challenges for a young lawyer, especially the economic challenges. These factors might have been responsible for a situation where some lawyers, with due respect to them, would go to any length all in the name of making money. Some of them do not even care to betray their colleagues, the courts, lie even on oath, put client’s property for sale, take over client’s property, forge official documents, embezzle client’s money, give bad legal counsel/advice to unsuspecting client, refuse to concede to settlement of matters between their clients and another, encourage and ill-advise their client on need for long litigation of matters, among other bad conducts, despite the Rules of Professional Conducts having force against all lawyers in Nigeria. There are those who are non-lawyers who have almost taken over the legal practice and even claim seniority over lawyers in courts! Of recent, a client of mine in Ibadan had been served a quit notice by his landlord represented by a purported lawyer in Ibadan, Oyo State. When I studied the said quit notice, I had a serious doubt as to the acclaimed status the said lawyer. So, I petitioned the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, to investigate the matter and to my surprise, the report that I got was that the said person was actually a fake lawyer (and the NBA Ibadan Branch has decided to take up such matter as investigation continues on the matter criminally)! How shocked are we?! Sometimes, we lawyers in the practice at both public or private or corporate or judicial bodies or other institutions, must be at alert to discover these criminal elements that would go to any length to tarnish the image of the legal profession and the legal practitioners! Sometimes, the mode and manners of conducting cases to the annoyance of other lawyers in a suit or in court would suggest that this kind of person is not likely to be a lawyer, or at best, if the person is a lawyer, perhaps he requires to be recommended for professional discipline. Unfortunately, many of the times, even many of us as lawyers and judges (with due respect), are never interested in such misconduct’s investigation/report! Therefore, the young lawyers must be given good trainings if the legal profession must thrive! Recently too, I had a tenancy case. I was representing the Plaintiff (a Christian) in the case somewhere in Nassarawa State, for recovery of premises, mesne profit and cost of litigation to the sum of N200,000.00. The Defendant (a Pastor carrying out church ministry on the said premises) had approached me for settlement to be given 6 months free of charge and that he would vacate the premises and that other claims should be waived! I understood that the Plaintiff ( a very old man) does not wish for an unending litigation, so I advised my Client (the Plaintiff) to consider conceding to the terms of settlement (even if he might not like such terms) as it is in my view, to his favour without me considering the benefits (especially financially) that would have accrued to me if the matter continues unendingly! I also spoke to the Plaintiff’s children to properly advise their father. The Plaintiff finally agreed to the terms! Then, we were in court and I moved the court as to the terms of settlement, even though the matter was for hearing on the day. Then the court was even happy with the roles that I have played between the parties as the matter would have gone for hearing as scheduled for the proceedings of the day! Then, the lawyer representing the Defendant not happy with settlement, stood up to raise some issues as to the facts that the Defendant had spent some money on the premises and what would happen to the said money spent?! The court asked the Defendant as to what he wanted and the Defendant replied that he is ready to let go of everything and that he had agreed with the Plaintiff for 6 months grace! Despite the Defendant’s statement, the lawyer still stood up raising issues on why the suit should continue! The court was pissed off with his conducts! Even lawyers in the court were annoyed as to his conducts! The court asked the lawyer and the Defendant as to what and what did the Defendant fixed on the premises that he wishes to remove?! At this stage, the Defendant said that he would remove: the roof, the doors, the PVC and the tiles! Then, the whole court was thrown into a serious laughter as to his mention of removing tiles! The court entered judgment summarily on the terms of settlement and that the Defendant can remove: roof, doors and PVC! At the end of the case, the bad lawyer (with due respect to him) was shamed and left unhappily while I was praised and commended by: the court and other colleagues in the bar for my roles in ensuring that parties are united and resolved their issues! Both the Defendant and the Plaintiff smiled and exchanged greetings happily and lovingly together before departing! Then, I was happy that at least, I was able to play my roles as a Minister in the temple of justice! I further thought of ‘what of if the lawyer representing the Defendant was a non-lawyer’ because I could not have expected that a lawyer duly called to bar and enrolled as a lawyer would be so wicked to insist on litigation even where his client openly denounced such act of litigation in court! Is this the only way some of us as lawyers would show the public that we are lawyers?! When we act dubiously and selfishly, with due respect, even against our professional ethics?! This is the kind of lawyers that would appeal a frivolous and vexatious interlocutory application in a tenancy matter up to the Supreme Court of Nigeria and come over to file another one to appeal to the Supreme Court again (and again) while assuring his client of a free occupation and possession of the landlord’s property! Is this professional?! Is this justice?! Is this attitude worthy of being emulated by the young ones?! I do not think so! Some lawyers with due respect, already think of themselves as being invincible and unaccountable! This is just one of those scenarios that are likely to be experienced everyday if we all do not care to make sure that the non-lawyers playing the roles of lawyers in the legal profession are exposed and that the bad ones among lawyers are reported or exposed too!

Furthermore, these bad lawyers are definitely everywhere in the legal profession! If they are legal advisers to any institution, they would be the ones to (many times) give wrong or bad advice to their clients which we all see happening today! Even in a situation where there is no need for an appeal in a matter, such lawyers would formulate one and demand money from their clients! Where such bad lawyers are appointed as judges, they become corrupt and would not care putting justice for sale to the higher or the highest bidder! Therefore, the National Judicial Council must be thorough in its recommendation of persons to the office of a judicial officer, so that the judiciary can be saved from these kinds of bad persons! We must understand that such persons were persons in their personal capacity before becoming a lawyer and before becoming a judicial officer! Therefore, their personality-check is very important! We should all fear God and fear our Hereafter in this profession as lawyers! The end must not justify the means at all times rather both must be righteous! Where these bad lawyers become principals or Head in a law office, then young lawyers under them are unsafe! They would become corrupt professionally and sexually! May God Almighty save us from their evils!

Therefore and finally, I humbly advise young lawyers to be at alert where they come across a bad lawyer as keeping relationship with him is likely to endanger their personality and moral upbringing! I also advise all of us as lawyers to always be concerned about ‘good conscience’ and ‘integrity’! In my humble view, if we always do good and that which is righteous, we would still succeed and be fulfilled in our endeavours! God after all is not wicked but the Most Merciful! The greatest of all is our rewards from God Almighty in this life, the grave and the Hereafter! We should also remember that whatever that we do on this earth, is not over but remains to await us on the Day of Judgment before God Almighty! Therefore, we should all be careful and not allow the devil (or our selfishness) to mislead us as some bad lawyers are still in the prison custody for one evil act or the other that they did while some (if not many) would stand condemned to eternal Hell before God Almighty on the Day of Judgment!

Email: hameed_ajibola@yahoo.com