The source of client’s wealth

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, during a book launch titled ‘Fundamental Principles of Nigeria Criminal Law’ said “I look forward to the day when members of the Bar will commence the ‘Know Your Client’ so as to guard and prevent advanced fee fraud and corruption in the country. […]

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, during a book launch titled ‘Fundamental Principles of Nigeria Criminal Law’ said “I look forward to the day when members of the Bar will commence the ‘Know Your Client’ so as to guard and prevent advanced fee fraud and corruption in the country. Members of this noble profession should know the source of wealth of their clients otherwise they run the risk of complicity.”
The ‘Know Your Client’ rule is mostly practiced by financial advisers, it implies that a business will carry out due diligence on a client to verify that they are who they say they are to prevent theft, fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. It is also “a standard form in the investment industry that ensures investment advisors know detailed information about their client’s risk, tolerance, investment knowledge and financial position”.
In the legal profession, it then means that ‘Know your client’ implies that lawyers should verify the source of their clients’ wealth or know what the clients do before taking their brief. So take for instance, a client walks into my office and says, I am a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the way things are going in this country I feel my name would be mentioned in the Dasukigate and I need a lawyer? What do I do as a lawyer, do I turn down his brief because I feel he is guilty and I don’t like corruption or should I go further and ask if the client has stolen any other government money and then turn down the brief?
Rule 7 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for legal practitioners {2007} provides that every person accused of crime has a right to a fair trial, including persons whose conduct, reputation or alleged violation may be the subject of public unpopularity or clamour. This places a duty of service on the legal profession and, where particular employment is declined, the refusal of the brief may not be justified merely on account of belief in the guilt of the accused, or repugnance towards him or to the crime or offense as charged.
The position of the attorney general and the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct seems to be conflicting, which begs the question, how does a young lawyer reconcile the two positions and how does one ascertain the source of client’s wealth?
It is understood that the country is in need of saving due to the stage and level of corruption, but we must not be desperate in our approach to curb the scourge and we must also be realistic at the same time in order to achieve any meaningful result. Truth be told, even if a thief works up to a lawyer and says I stole N3 million and I need a lawyer, the profession imposes a duty on the lawyer to accept the brief and not turn it down based on personal belief.
The intent behind the ‘Know Your Client’ rule is beautiful and may help in the fight against corruption, but a lawyer cannot possibly know the source of a client’s wealth, this might be possible in other advanced countries where the system is working. I doubt if it would work in Nigeria.
Some may say, why not give it a trial and see if it works than throwing the  baby with the bath water, and my reason is this, the legal profession as practiced in Nigeria is unique to the Nigerian culture, the moment clients become aware of the fact that this particular lawyer grills his clients about the source of their money, that is the moment that lawyer begins to lose clients.
Secondly, even if the clients agree to reveal the source of their wealth, the lawyers knowledge of the source is only restricted to what the client reveals and nothing more; what if the senator says he hasn’t stolen government money, does the statement become true because the client says so?
It is trite knowledge that lawyers are instrumental to the fight against corruption, this does not however mean that a lawyer’s practice should suffer for it.
Do send your comment{s}, observation{s} and recommendation{s} to [email protected] or like us on www.facebook.com/younglawyerscolumn