A lone wolf

  “… When the snow falls, and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives” – Game of Thrones  In the hay days, and sadly till this current day, legal professionals intending to establish a law firm go into this venture as a lone wolf, the principal partner is solely in […]

  “… When the snow falls, and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives” – Game of Thrones

 In the hay days, and sadly till this current day, legal professionals intending to establish a law firm go into this venture as a lone wolf, the principal partner is solely in charge of every activity, and management of the law firm, with an erroneous belief that the best way to get things done, is to do it yourself. This leads to many legal professionals starting-up law firms alone with intent to do everything themselves at the firm.

In my humble opinion, the snail like improvement of the Nigerian legal practice is largely due to the many one-man law firms in the country, rather than having law firms operate as institutions (partnerships) that can continue after the demise of a principal partner. There are many reputable senior colleagues (God rest their soul) who the moment they passed away, their law firms became a shadow of itself; still existing but not as vibrant as it was because the principal driver is no more.

There is no doubt that some of these one man established law firms in legal practice actually do well in the profession, and are an example for coming up lawyers to emulate, some even operate at the peak of legal practice when compared with their peers. However, continuity of a law firm is only guaranteed when operated as an institution; when the law firm is bigger than any one particular individual with a structured system that the availability or otherwise of any lawyer does not affect the survival of the firm in the industry. (As discussed in institutions over individuals)

This writer has observed that Nigerians don’t like to share profit with anyone; we prefer to run the lone race and make everything for self, ironically, the fear of making less when you share cannot be compared to how much one would actually gain when working together as a team. It is my humble opinion that a client would feel comfortable paying N5,000,000 (five million naira) only to a team of lawyers, than pay N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira) only to an individual lawyer.

It is sad that the current generation of lawyers with the opportunity of computers, smart phones, social media, and internet still conscript themselves to the analog way of operation. Establishing partnerships has been made easy with the advent of technology, a legal professional need not be physically present at the firm to be updated and participate in the activities of the firm, each lawyer does not need to pay office rent and furnishing when two or three can combine resources and build an edifice called a law firm, but then the younger generation of lawyers in the industry are still stereotyped to the old ways of doing things that we find it difficult to revolutionize the operation of legal practice to fit today’s way of doing things in the society.     Forming a partnership could be herculean because of the peculiar nature of the Nigerian society we find ourselves in, we hardly love each other, not to talk of trusting one another, and the pillar of any partnership is trust, honesty, and loyalty. Truth be told, partnerships are not always rosy, you find situations where a partner feels like he/she contributes more to the firm than the others, there are also times when the lackadaisical attitude of a particular partner can dampen the enthusiasm of others, but then the challenges of a partnership far outweigh those of a lone law firm, and encompass all the advantages of a one man law firm with more.

We cannot wait for the elders of the profession to change the settings of the legal environment; they have played their part and are comfortable with the current structure of the profession. The mantle is now on the younger crop of lawyers to expand the frontiers of law to fit contemporary times, we all cannot be good at litigation, likewise not all can fare well as solicitors, but then, we can be perfect working together as the strength of one, would complement the weakness of the other, and vice versa.

‘A lone wolf rarely survives winter. Nobody is saying the lone wolf cannot survive; it would however be more difficult for him/her than the pack of wolves.’