The essence of tutelage

Black’s Law Dictionary (9th Edition) defines tutelage as “the act of protecting or guiding; guardianship”. Just as a child learns his morals and social beliefs about life from his parents, guardians, teachers et al, the same applies in the legal profession; a young lawyer fresh out of law school is likened to a child in […]

Black’s Law Dictionary (9th Edition) defines tutelage as “the act of protecting or guiding; guardianship”. Just as a child learns his morals and social beliefs about life from his parents, guardians, teachers et al, the same applies in the legal profession; a young lawyer fresh out of law school is likened to a child in need of guidance and teaching.
The legal profession is a diverse pool of knowledge with various specializations to avail a young lawyer success in whatever endeavour he chooses,  but how does one know where he truly fits without first learning from those who have spent a number of years in the trade?  A young lawyer trying to find his feet needs a tutor to lend a hand as he falls and rises along the way.
Like the adage goes, “what an elder sees sitting down, a young man cannot see standing”, which is why it’s not advisable for a new wig without any requisite experience to practice the profession on his own without any guidance, which would only spell disaster. Irrespective of the fact that not all senior learned colleagues are good tutors or good enough to learn from, tutelage is a very important period in the practise of a young lawyer.
One essential attribute needed by a lawyer in this noble profession is confidence and in that period after call to bar, a young lawyer tends to be a little shaky as to the knowledge and applicability of the law. It’s not that the young lawyer is not intelligent or smart enough to handle certain legal matters, but truth be told, apart from the theories of law taught in school what really does a young lawyer know at that stage when it comes to real life issues which are most times bizarre than the scenarios given to us in law school?
When one is attached to a law firm, that confidence begins to grow, you start learning how to talk to clients about the law without the fear of whether you are correct or wrong. You now talk to men in uniforms with authority without sounding insulting or arrogant,  you now begin to see a different perspective of how the law works and know where to fit in.
A young lawyer fresh out of law school usually has this fear when it comes to billing a client. There is the tendency to under price skills and services fearing that the client would leave if one charged the appropriate fee and with the desperation to get briefs at all cost because of the economic travails in the country, young lawyers accept peanuts paid to them and overwork themselves far above the fees charged.
With tutelage, one begins to realise this fundamental mistake. Clients only look for lawyers when in trouble and leave when the problem is solved. The legal profession is not a charitable organisation, neither is it cheap to become a lawyer, so why slave for a person who would forget all your efforts the moment the job is completed?
Another necessary tool in the practise of law is a well-equipped library. A lawyer is as good as his library and a collection of law books is quite expensive; beyond the reach of a young lawyer. This writer is yet to discover any practise of law done without books. A young lawyer who desires to improve his practise needs a library at his side at all times for an effective research and the law books collected during school days are too minimal to make any meaningful impact; this is where tutelage comes in handy. A law firm properly so called should avail a young lawyer with the necessary books he needs to keep him going before he finally acquires his own collection of books.
The legal profession is a very wide pool of knowledge that a young lawyer cannot specialise at the beginning of practise, such would be a colossal blunder. So how does a young lawyer know where he fits when he barely has any meaningful experience to give him the relevant choices to choose from? Tutelage gives a young lawyer the opportunity to experience different spheres of law and know what aspect of law is favourable to his practise.
This is not in any way suggesting that a young lawyer under tutelage in a law firm with an environment that is not encouraging and comforting, should stay put and suffer in silence. No! While tutelage gives a young lawyer an opportunity to flop, make mistakes and learn from them, it is not an avenue for law firms to exploit the labours of young lawyers.
Bulusson practices law in Kaduna