Team law firm

“It has been said that an ideal team of lawyers would be that which consists of the right mix of ages (i.e combination of “grey-haired” experience and youth); “finders” (i.e the client-finders/winners);  factors in retaining the goodwill of clients or who are endowed with good management capabilities). Luckier is the team whose players are endowed […]

“It has been said that an ideal team of lawyers would be that which consists of the right mix of ages (i.e combination of “grey-haired” experience and youth); “finders” (i.e the client-finders/winners);  factors in retaining the goodwill of clients or who are endowed with good management capabilities). Luckier is the team whose players are endowed with a combination of all the above attributes.” LAW OFFICE ETIQUETTE by Abdulai, Taiwo & CO
It was on a Thursday morning at the Court of Appeal while waiting for my case to be called, that a young lawyer, tall, handsome and smartly dressed was addressing the court on a particular brief. He was stuttering and shaking that neither the court nor counsels present could appreciate his presentation. After the matter and few exchange of pleasantries outside the courtroom, I found out that he drafted the brief, a peak at the brief left me impressed, it was concise, precise, and comprehensive, but yet he was not able to present that which he wrote himself.
A standard law firm that works as a team needs to have the best of both worlds, and a young lawyer privileged to be in such a firm with a mix of experience and youth need to discover his area of strength that would be beneficial to the firm.
The ‘grey haired’ lawyers are those between twenty {20} and above post call years.  This set of lawyers went to law school when they were taking down notes by hand, practiced law when every address and application had to be done orally, this set are so experienced that there are only a few law situations that they cannot attend to without the stress of blinking an eyelid.
The ‘youthful’ are lawyers between one {1} – ten {10} years post call, who studied law when technology came to make life easier with power point presentation, online lecture notes, daily task sent to group email for discussion.  This set became lawyers when the practice of law was also simplified by the introduction of front loading system, now advocacy is no longer how well a lawyer can orally address the court but rather his written address or brief of argument.
The ‘finders’ can be of any age grade in the legal profession but so connected that a percentage of the firm’s client come through them, these set of lawyers need not advertise or source for clients in a manner that would offend the Rules of Professional Conduct, they are just skilled in getting clients for the firm.
The ‘grinders’ are the workaholics of the firm, they have a passion for research, drafting of letters, brief or applications et al, {most young lawyers fall under this category not by choice}.  This set are the ones who prepare the processes before it is filed at the court, they may be good in drafting {office preparation} but really poor in public presentation like my learned friend above.
The ‘minders’ are the lawyers with good will {in Hausa language, we call it Farin gini}, this set of lawyers need not be as hard working as the grinders or put in much effort at sourcing clients, but the good thing is once they come in contact with a client, he attends to them in a way that wins their heart to the firm. He has a way of making clients always want to come back to the firm, he is a peace maker even amongst his colleagues in the office, he ensures that everyone is happy and things move smoothly.
A law firm properly so- called ought to run as a team for meaningful result not a master servant relationship as some law firms operate in our legal profession, we should be colleagues working together for the betterment of the firm like the brain, hand and leg working together for the good of the human body.
Having said that, for a young lawyer to be productive in a firm irrespective of how it is operated, engage in activities that excites you be it a ‘finder’, ‘grinder’ or ‘minder’, do something worthwhile to develop yourself as a lawyer and in the process, help the firm achieve its set objectives.
Godspeed!
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