Learn the right things

The law firm a young wig begins practice with plays a major role in determining his future practice style. Like a new born baby begins to learn the ways of life from the family since that is his/her first contact point with life, so also a young wig begins to learn the practical aspect of […]

The law firm a young wig begins practice with plays a major role in determining his future practice style. Like a new born baby begins to learn the ways of life from the family since that is his/her first contact point with life, so also a young wig begins to learn the practical aspect of the noble profession from the law firm that first exposes him to practice. Due to the technical and complex nature of the legal profession, a young wig just called to the BAR would not possess the requisite practical experience to establish his law firm, though it is not prohibited by law. We have seen young wigs who establish their own law firm one month after call to BAR, whether they are doing well or not is not for me to say.
The tutelage period of a young wig does not make him a lesser lawyer, it only provides him with the opportunity to learn the ropes of practice with real life scenarios, it avails him the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them, and so the law firm is primarily responsible for the knowledge the young wig acquires at this grooming stage of practice.
Having said that, a young wig should know how to distinguish between the legal practice style to be learnt and that which ought to be abandoned. It has been rightly observed, that the legal profession is not just a job but a way of life, as such one cannot remain a young wig for life; we grow as the years come by and the things we learn as we begin practice have a way of becoming habit in the not too distant future when we are independent. Thus, a young wig should beware of “unethical approaches used to achieve an advantageous benefit which, if an acceptable approach is observed will not produce the same outcome, this is otherwise known as ‘sharp practice’ e.g. backdating documents for the satisfaction of a client”.
While it is true that a young wig acts on instruction from the law firm and has little or no say in what he does, he must be wary of what he learns. This young wig was in court when his Lordship emphasised the importance of learning the right things in practice. How well a lawyer is recognised in the profession depends on his name – some lawyers are tagged as reputable, some skirmish and some sleazy, whichever way it is, a young wig is solely responsible for his goodwill. You hold the key to your place in the profession.
Fraud and sharp practice have a way of coming back to haunt their perpetrator. It may look beneficial and juicy at first but its consequences are dire when they back fire. Sometimes due to the pressure that comes with the job, one might be tempted to cut corners for accelerated gain but to whose benefit; as a minister in the temple of justice why do something beneficial to the client and detrimental to your calling? It doesn’t make sense to have to do the wrong thing in order to do the right thing.
Young wigs during tutelage should work diligently and focus on concepts like transparency, competitive pricing, predictability, service delivery, efficiency, project (or matter) management, training et al. These concepts, if learned by a young wig, would go a long way in improving his practice style and not to focus all his energy on pursuing temporary material upliftment.
The grooming stage of practice is principally meant for learning and it is advisable that a young wig picks attributes of practice that would contribute immensely to his goodwill and not vice versa. Joel Osteen once said a big test we all face in life on a regular basis is the discouragement test. Life is not always fair, but if you keep doing the right thing, God will get you where you want to be.
Do send your comments, observations and recommendations to [email protected]