Smart work, not hard work

Nigerians who have not had direct contact or interaction with a modern day lawyer believe that lawyers are too serious minded, always squeezing their faces, stern looking and go to court with a trolley of books for effective argument in court; little do they know that the practice of law is different in the digital world that we find ourselves today.

I still remember when infrared was the means of sharing pictures, videos and music between two mobile devices and this is a couple of years ago, meaning our parents did not have the opportunity or privilege to experience the kind of technology advancement that the new generation is exposed to, as it stands today.  You would hardly find a tertiary campus without a functional WI-FI {wireless fidelity} which gives students access to internet connectivity to aid research.

In the hay days, letters and correspondence took days to reach an intended party, but nowadays messages and information are received as they occur; conversations and business deals that hitherto took several days to be completed because of distance can now be done on the go, then our senior colleagues had to argue almost everything orally in court but now we have written addresses.

This generation of lawyers are blessed with android, IOS {Iphone operating system} and windows powered devices with the capacity to download practically everything online, be it the Supreme Court judgment from yesteryears till now, precedents and other law relevant materials; all these are possible with a click of a button provided you have an active data plan.

It is for the above stated reasons that the manner of practice of the new generation lawyer ought to change direction to fit the current globalisation. We need to distance ourselves from the illusion that to be successful in this business one must break  sweat all the time, jumping from one place to another all the time solving clients’ issues with nothing to show for the effort.

The time has come for young lawyers to be smart in our thoughts and approach of the legal profession. It is no longer news that due to the stress of the job in the yesteryears some aged lawyers have one health complication or the other.  This should not be the same for the new generation lawyers; we should encourage a ‘softlife’ kind of practice not the other way round.

In essence, since we have first-hand knowledge about the use and benefits of information and communication technology, we are the ones better placed to change it around. As time passes by, we would change the perspective of the society.

So if am employed in a law firm that does not believe in the concept of ICT and I am desirous of making this change as a young lawyer, what do I do? Firstly,  approach your principal about the idea, it is possible that your principal may not know how to use this modern day technology that is why he hasn’t really paid attention to it, so approach your principal with the idea, try convincing him to see reason. Either way it goes, a young lawyer must take responsibility of his own legal growth.

If as a young lawyer you don’t have a laptop by now, please try getting one as the journey to digital practice begins from the use of a laptop; it needs not be an expensive one except if you have the financial strength. Make use of your email, one can send court processes through mail to another colleague for proof reading and editing instead of printing, correcting and then printing again.

Legal documents prepared by counsel can be stored for years and referred back to any time in the future. The use of a laptop would make preparation of legal documents less stressful and easier. Then make use of your email addresses; correspondences and communications with clients need not being sent manually vide a letter. With an email everything happens on the go.

The way we start our journey in the legal environment would determine greatly whether we change the legal profession into a digital environs or not.

Godspeed!