Becoming a better lawyer

I was talking with the Kaduna State Territory’s Sales Manager of Reckitt Benkiser Nigeria ltd, Mr. Sanni Rasaq, recently about methods used in marketing goods and services.  During our discussions I learnt of the four Ps execution chart, i.e Product, Price, Place and Promotion. In Product, one considers what the customer wants from the product […]

I was talking with the Kaduna State Territory’s Sales Manager of Reckitt Benkiser Nigeria ltd, Mr. Sanni Rasaq, recently about methods used in marketing goods and services.  During our discussions I learnt of the four Ps execution chart, i.e Product, Price, Place and Promotion. In Product, one considers what the customer wants from the product and what features the product has to meet the customers need; Price talks about the value of the product or service to the buyer and if there are established price points for products or services in the area; Place, is where the buyers look for the product or service and Promotion is about reaching out to the customers by effectively getting your marketing messages to the target market.
Putting this principle of marketing side by side the legal profession, product becomes legal services rendered by the legal practitioner. A client or potential client seeks legal representation that will secure his best interest.  He/she desires the satisfaction that his/her legal representative can properly handle his/her legal woes. The legal practitioner must in turn have the requisite skills properly horned to meet the client’s legal need. It is not the duty of a lawyer to guarantee victory only to offer adequate and effective legal representation.
It is the consistency of this relationship between the young lawyer and his clients that increases the value of the legal services rendered by the young lawyer i.e Price.
A young lawyer has to be creative in his manner of relationship with his clients and the society at large to increase the value of his services, and this is only possible when the society believes that the young lawyer has the integrity and credibility to repose trust on him. With time the young lawyer begins to garner confidence to adequately charge the client. The place provided in the legal profession where a client meets with the lawyer to exchange money and services is the law office, but the young lawyer should not restrict himself to the law office in establishing a relationship with the client as it is the society at large that provides the client base necessary to improve his practise. Every neighbour, friend and person a young lawyer meets in his day to day activity is a potential client, the transaction can take place in the office but the foundation of the relationship need not be.
As provided for in Rule (33) sub rule (a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the Legal Profession, it is contrary to professional etiquette for a lawyer to solicit professional employment by circulars, advertisement through touts or by personal communication or interviews as this offends the traditions and lowers the tone of the profession. This makes Promotion a little tricky in the legal profession. Be that as it is may, the customary use of simple professional cards is not improper. A young lawyer need not outrightly advertise himself to the world before he can get his marketing messages to his target audience, all he need do is to inform people i.e potential clients that he is a lawyer and this can be easily achieved by networking which provides the avenue to give your complimentary card to target audience.
“Extemporaneous speaking should be practised (sic) and cultivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech. And yet there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers than relying too much on speech-making. If anyone, upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance,” Abraham Lincoln (July 1, 1850)
As it is said, “different strokes for different folks”. While this philosophy of marketing might sound abstract and impracticable to some young lawyers, this writer is confident that if this principle is applied to the legal practise of a set of optimistic young lawyers, it would go a long way in helping them become better lawyers.

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