Just like my six weeks’ old godson, Fumen Gandu Isaac, Jnr, every new day in life brings forth its own experience, at the moment and for a long time to come, most of his dependence on the survival of life would be provided directly by the mother, she provides him milk when he is hungry, […]
Independence of the mind
Just like my six weeks’ old godson, Fumen Gandu Isaac, Jnr, every new day in life brings forth its own experience, at the moment and for a long time to come, most of his dependence on the survival of life would be provided directly by the mother, she provides him milk when he is hungry, cleans him up when he is dirty and attends to his needs when in discomfort. The same applies with newborn legal practitioners in the profession, at entry level every development of the mind, experience and practices are provided by those before you.
Some are born with a golden spoon, some are born with no spoon; some lawyers would begin practice in an institutionalized law firm with good welfare and training packages, some would begin in a one-man law shop were a lawyer almost seconds to the secretary of the law firm; monthly salary is dependent on whether money comes in or not.
Life is not fair, many would say. Nevertheless, a time in life would come when junior’s dependence on survival would no longer be on his mother but his ability to learn daily and grow. Then, he would make choices of life personally; seeking guidance from his parents, friends, colleagues and loved ones.
The starting point of any journey doesn’t necessarily matter as much as the finish line, it is the one that wins the race that would be celebrated, not he or she that started first; not the one who wore Gucci boots or torn boots. The key to growth in the legal profession is independence of the mind, the ability to cipher chaff from grain individually, the ability to personally choose what is more important in the legal profession – is it reputation, wealth, influence properly so called, or stability?
There comes a time in life, as well as the legal profession, that one must personally decide what is good, and what is not; one begins to see his or her rightful place in the legal profession. How soon this time comes varies from lawyer to lawyer, some discover it early in practice, others late in the profession. Whichever it is, the most important thing is finding a purpose in law and the society.
Independence of the mind does not necessarily mean establishing a law firm, or being your own boss, that is an extreme thought. According to definedterms.com, independence of the mind is “the state of mind that permits the performance of an attested service without being affected by influences that compromise professional judgment, thereby allowing an individual to act with integrity and exercise objectivity and professional skepticism”. In simple terms, the ability to make personal decisions based on what your instincts tell you are right, and not the opinion of others is independence of the mind.
As no man is an island, advice, encouragement, support, guidance, correction from family, seniors, bosses, colleagues, friends, neighbours are necessities in a man’s life: the idea is to avoid replacing your own thoughts with those of others. Do not let the opinion of people be the decider of who you want to become in the legal profession; no one can see it better than you.
The starting may be rough, the law firm may not be the dream law firm, the paycheck may be tiny and inconsistent, things might look good for your fellow colleagues’ accept you, and so on, and so forth. My humble opinion, focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, the silver lining behind the cloud, because the above listed factors of the current position do not determine the success or otherwise of a legal practitioner in the profession, they are merely speed bumps and not a roadblock.
Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim CON, FCIArb, FINALS, SAN rightly said in his interview with the editorial team of The Young Wig, “there is no alternative to hard work”. Young legal practitioners ought to drop the get rich syndrome and work on personal development.
Godspeed!
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