The little things that count

a written address shall contain the claim or application on which the address is based, a brief statement of the facts with reference to the exhibit attached to the application or tendered at trial, the issue arising for determination and a succinct statement of argument on each issue incorporating the purport of the authorities referred […]

a written address shall contain the claim or application on which the address is based, a brief statement of the facts with reference to the exhibit attached to the application or tendered at trial, the issue arising for determination and a succinct statement of argument on each issue incorporating the purport of the authorities referred to together with full citation of each such authority.
A counsel’s written address depending on how concise and crisp, ought to point the judge in the right direction of arriving at the just determination of the case, as a senior colleague once rightly said to me “a written address would only be difficult if you know you have a bad case”. The focus of this discuss are the little things that count when preparing a final address, but taken for granted during the course of trial by most young lawyers.
Research has shown that the brain is most active to current happenings, and requires time depending on the memory to recollect past events. In the legal profession, a lot of activities take place during trial that most young lawyers fail to see the importance of putting into writing until such things come to hunt them during the preparation of a final written address.
Majority of young lawyers go to court to have their appearance announced, watch proceedings and leave when the case is done, believing that what went on in court is stored in their memory. No doubt it is stored in the memory, but how can one be sure that at the time of writing the final written address, every minute detail that transpired in court while the case was going on would automatically come to the young lawyer’s finger tips when he is in dire need of the facts.
With the unfortunate circumstance of cases stretching beyond two {2} – three {3} years in the Nigerian Legal System, sometimes even far longer, coupled with the fact that it is most probable that a counsel who begins a case might not be the same counsel to conclude the case, it then becomes imperative to take down notes on proceedings during trial in court.
Endorsements on a case file is another little thing that counts, it helps keep a counsel updated on what to expect on the next adjourned date, however, endorsements is a summary of what transpired and not a detailed description of what truly transpired. A young lawyer should ensure that every trial he attends he has a separate sheet of paper to take down everything that transpired in court, ranging from parties in court, date of the proceeding, business of the day, applications made by counsel and objections if any, the ruling of the honourable court if any was made, and where witnesses are called to testify the examination- in-chief, cross examination and re-examination should be noted.
It might look stressful, tiring or boring to the extent that one might not even see the relevance of taking down notes of proceedings in court, however when preparing final address, counsel would need to bring out most of these facts to guide the court and where the opposing counsel has more facts at his disposal than you do, he would be in a better position to point the court in the direction of his case.
Though the courts have their record and are bound by it, and counsel are at liberty to apply for the records when the time comes to prepare the final written address, counsel especially young lawyers would save themselves a lot of time from their twenty one (21) or fourteen (14) days depending on the party they represent, if the proceedings were already in the case file.
The case of the plaintiff and the defendant comes to bear fully in the final written address. Truth be told, the time allocated by statutes is not always enough for young counsels to complete the written address before handing over to the Principal Partner for editing and correction, which is why proceedings taken down would go a long way in helping the young lawyer arrange his case.
Young wigs should not be lax to the extent of not taking notes in court, at the point of trial it may not look important, but at the stage of preparing final addresses, it would go a long way in helping the young wig.

Do send your comments, observation and recommendation to [email protected]