New dawn for legal profession

Before the event which took place at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, the association had in the past few months signed Partnership Agreements with several service providers for the provision of welfare packages for its members. This initiative, according to Austine Alegeh SAN, the NBA President was in fulfillment of his administration’s promise to vigorously pursue and […]

Before the event which took place at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, the association had in the past few months signed Partnership Agreements with several service providers for the provision of welfare packages for its members.
 This initiative, according to Austine Alegeh SAN, the NBA President was in fulfillment of his administration’s promise to vigorously pursue and safeguard the interest of Nigerian lawyers.
 The Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2007 makes it mandatory for every legal document signed and filed by a lawyer to bear a stamp and seal approved by the NBA.
 This requirement of law necessitated the recent decision of the NBA to engage the services of Strataflex Nigeria Limited for the provision of adhesive paper stamps for lawyers.
 The stamps which are valid for only one year will only be issued to verified lawyers who have paid their Bar Practicing Fees at the cost of N4,000 (Four Thousand Naira only)per pack of 120  stamps.
 The stamps, according to Alegeh, have distinctive high quality security features which make duplication and forgery close to impossible. The security features will continually be updated.
 His words, “The stamps are specially designed to bear the name and enrolment number of each Lawyer. It is instructive to note that prior to this moment, there was no way of verifying the authenticity of legal documents said to have been prepared by lawyers. The introduction of the NBA Stamp will address and resolve this issue and all documents which bear this stamp will prima facie be deemed to have emanated from the lawyer whose details are contained therein.”
He said further that the NBA National Executive Committee approved the provision of two colours of the stamps – Green and Red. The green stamps will be issued to lawyers who are in private legal practice while the red stamps will be issued to lawyers in the public practice.
 He also said that the situation where the authenticity of legal documents has remained a mirage must come to an end immediately.
“Affidavits have become so abused that it is possible for a deponent
 to file an affidavit in court declaring himself DEAD! The
 proliferation of quacks in the Legal Profession has reached an
 unbearable limit. We have left our doors so wide open that even
 foreign lawyers are practicing law in Nigeria in clear breach of the provisions of the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11 LFN, 2004. The introduction of the NBA approved seal would address this problem,” Alegeh said.
 The NBA also re-introduced the issuance of the Annual Practice License in line with the provisions of Rule 12 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007.
It was gathered that the Annual Practice License will only be issued to lawyers duly verified by the NBA and certified to have paid their
 Bar Practicing Fees and it is expected to be displayed by every lawyer in his office and be made available as proof of payment of Annual Practicing Fees.
 The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed who was also present at the occasion said that the stamp has breathed life into the provision of the law and further elevated legal practice in Nigeria to meet the challenges of an evolving society.
 “No doubt, one of these challenges is how to differentiate between a “real” and “fake” legal practitioner.  The prevalence of fake lawyers in the country negatively affects the integrity of the legal profession and casts a shadow of disrepute upon us all.  Indeed, judges find it difficult to identify which counsel, appearing before them, is genuine or otherwise.  Of even greater concern is the fact that members of the public are often left in a quandary over who they can place their trust, property and even lives in,” CJN said.
The CJN described the NBA stamp as timely in its occurrence because the judiciary is similarly introducing the greater use of information and communications technology solutions like legal email and court automation into the administration of justice in the Superior Courts.
 His words, “ I believe that an enhanced synergistic use and adoption of appropriate ICT innovations will further enhance our ability to bring the legal profession into the 21st Century and re-position the temple of justice to provide effectively a qualitative justice dispensation system that meets the complex demands of our dynamic society.  These innovations will soon include the electronic service of hearing notices from the Supreme Court and more secure inter- and intra-communications platforms between the courts and Legal Practitioners.”
 Those present at the event are the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; the President of the Court of Appeal Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa and other Justices of the Court of Appeal; Chief Judges of the Federal and various State High Courts, President of National Industrial Court, Grand Khadis and other Heads of Courts; Judges and Khadis of various Courts and other Judicial Officers.
 Others are past Presidents and General Secretaries of the NBA; National Officers of the NBA; Senior Advocates of Nigeria; Benchers; Branch Chairmen and Secretaries as well as senior lawyers.

 INSURANCE POLICY WITH LEADWAY ASSURANCE PLC
 The NBA President at the same event also disclosed that the NBA has partnered with Leadway Assurance Company Limited for the provision of a basic insurance cover for its members.
 The insurance cover, it was gathered comes at no extra cost to the lawyer and is to be funded from the Annual Bar Practicing Fees paid to NBA.
The scheme provides insurance cover of up to N1,000,000 (One Million Naira only) for NBA member who qualify for the insurance.
Austine Alegeh further disclosed that the NBA has decided to setup a National Pro Bono Centre to address all issues relating to pro bono work/services rendered by lawyers.
“The NBA is pleased by the willingness of members to provide pro bono services and continues to encourage more members to provide pro bono services. This is part of our contribution to the development of our country, Nigeria and a clear demonstration of providing access to justice for all aggrieved persons despite their financial challenges,” Alegeh said.
 According to him, the evidence of rendering Pro bono services has become a requirement for Lawyers seeking appointments and/or privileges in the Legal Profession.
 “However, there are several challenges involved in the structure and organisation of pro bono work. In certain instances, several lawyers and NGOs are providing pro bono service to the same person. In other instances, work for debtor clients is claimed as pro bono work. This occurs as there is no coordination and/or certification of pro bono work.
“The NBA National Pro Bono Centre will serve as a clearing house and coordination point for all pro bono Work. The centre would develop an up to date database of all Pro bono work being done by various persons and bodies to eliminate duplication of efforts and streamline the work in a way that ensures efficiency and effectiveness. The most critical role of the NBA National Pro Bono Centre would be the certification of Pro Bono Work and issuance of Pro bono certificates,” he said.
 According to him, this  would ensure that persons actually engaged in the provision of provision of pro bono services would have NBA certification to confirm the pro bono work. It would also help to eliminate cases where non pro bono work is wrongly classified as pro bono work to take advantages available and/or meet qualification requirements of pro bono work.
 “The Pro Bono Certification would also address the issue of lawyers engaged in Public Practice who carry out pro bono work as it will allow their seals to be used in respect of all such certified pro bono work. The NBA is working to ensure additional benefits for pro bono work and this would be made known to all members when finalized.
 “The NBA Pro Bono Centre would firm out pro bono work in a manner that ensures quality representation for indigent Clients. The current system that matches indigent clients with inexperienced lawyers seeking to gain experience with pro bono work needs to be addressed.
 In all such cases, more experienced lawyers would be instructed by the Pro Bono Centre to lead the team handling the matter. We call for the cooperation of our senior lawyers as we do not anticipate a situation where work firmed out by the National Pro Bono Centre would be rejected,” Alegeh said.