Climbing the ladder!

Last week’s focus was the two sides of litigation; this week focus is on young wigs climbing the ladder in the legal profession despite the cold weather of the present.  Young wigs need to avoid being too comfortable in comfort zones, it might feel okay for a while but in the future it might also […]

Last week’s focus was the two sides of litigation; this week focus is on young wigs climbing the ladder in the legal profession despite the cold weather of the present.  Young wigs need to avoid being too comfortable in comfort zones, it might feel okay for a while but in the future it might also be an obstacle, in the words of Waldo Emerson, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow”.
I saw a Blackberry messenger picture somewhere; a young lad had a ladder to climb to the top but chose to use the steps to make fire because he felt cold, sadly this is familiar to the situation of some young wigs in our beloved profession when the fact that one is a lawyer has already made the sky a starting point.
The legal profession is in stages: a time to pay dues and a time to receive dues, a time to master the art of the profession and a time to use the art to learn to navigate a legal way through in the best possible ways; it is often difficult to attain the latter without first getting the former no matter how hard we try.  Unfortunately, some young wigs pay so much attention to the present cold weather that they lose focus in finding ways to climb the ladder.
Lawrence Bassey Esq said: “Some young wigs want to reach stage four (4) from stage one (1) avoiding stages two (2) and three(3), and when you do this, two things happen; it is either you crash and start from stage one (1) or you crash and never get back up.”
It is understood that the high expectations of family, friends and the society at large may be the reason why the present challenges may look insurmountable. It is imperative that we drop negative thoughts and look forward to achieving greater heights. Some reputable and successful senior colleagues would tell you they passed through worse situations back in the days; we must start from somewhere diligently.
“Change is not an enemy”, in my humble opinion, a young wig ought to have a goal with projected years on when to achieve same and utilise the present in furtherance of that goal and even if we don’t achieve same in a number of years, let there be effort (effort as used in the context in no way means doing the same thing all the time and expecting a different result).
A young gentleman ought to also find his path, where his passion lies and what brings him joy, for passion is productivity, and when one produces, he gradually leaves the era of complaints. The area of law that interests one should be improved upon be it litigation, corporate, property, admiralty, maritime et al. If a young wig can’t afford to go overseas for masters, or doesn’t really have time at the moment for Nigerian university, some online courses in that area of law could be of help.
“In order to be successful one must look successful”, it pains me when I see young wigs looking not so clean; allowing the current temporary challenges reflect in appearance. It is advisable that we avoid public showing of ‘brokeness’. True, we don’t have much in our pockets to do that which we really want to do, but the little available can be used to look smart and presentable anytime in contact with the society, though some would disagree.
Staying stagnant in a particular stage in the profession for a long time is not healthy to the practise of a young wig: at the same time we must avoid the fast lane to the top. This legal year should yield more results than the last and weak spots should be improved upon “better late than never”.
To my Muslim friends, “may the blessing of Eid-El-Kabir fill your homes with joy and tranquillity as you pray for his grace in prolonging your lives to witness many more of this in good health and prosperity (Amin)”.
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