Economic Meltdown: SAN Urges Young Lawyers To Be Enterprising

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mazi Afam Osigwe, has urged young lawyers to be innovative and explore new opportunities in order to stay afloat and extend the legal profession in the face of the current economic realities.

The SAN spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday during the 5th Young Lawyers Forum/Obafemi Adewale, SAN, Colloquium organized by the Nigerian Bar Association Young Lawyers Forum, Ado Ekiti Branch.

The colloquium had the theme ‘Emerging opportunities for young lawyers: Self discovery and entrepreneurship’.

He said: “As a starting point, one must admit that a time of economic recession or bleak socio-economic outlook when the rate of unemployment is high and government is borrowing to fund budgets, the way out for many, is entrepreneurial revolution.

“It is therefore a good time to look at the emerging areas of practice that lawyers can benefit from as well as what lawyers must do in order to ensure our businesses harness these emerging areas to succeed.

Osigwe harped on opportunities which young lawyers would benefit from in their quest for self-discovery and imbibing of an entrepreneurial approach to legal practice.

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He urged, Lawyers to look beyond the usual ways the profession is being practiced and seek to find new areas.

“To do this, lawyers must not only look beyond the known practice areas, but look beyond them into unexplored areas wherever they may find themselves. To do this they must continually train and retrain themselves.

“Unfortunately, many lawyers have failed to update their knowledge since leaving Law School. Their failure to ask critical questions, prove to be the albatross of their law practice.

“Lawyers are increasingly deploying technology and other innovations to utilize before-now unknown opportunities in the legal profession.

“Many lawyers continually make their mark in the profession without practicing law in the traditional way of representing clients in courts.

“Many even practice in multiple jurisdictions from the comfort of their offices, homes, cars, while vacationing or even surfing the web. Indeed, many have found a niche market where they have achieved expertise and fame,” he said.

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Osigwe said the legal profession was not insulated from the negative effect of economic recession and the attendant laying off of workers, losses in manufacturing sector and falling value of naira, among others, hence the need for innovation.

Also speaking, Adewale Babafemi, SAN, urged the young lawyers to embrace technology, saying, “with technology, you can be a lawyer or a professional and practice anywhere in the world because you can reach the ends of the world on the net.

“What is required is for them (young lawyers) to be innovative, to think outside the box and to make sure that they take the opportunities that come to them because if the opportunities come and just pass away, you don’t make good use of it, you will still remain where you are,” he said.

Dignitaries at the colloquium included Taiwo Kupolati (SAN), who chaired the event; and the Dean, Faculty of Law, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Prof Isreal Akomolede.