A few weeks ago, a client walked into my office complex and after having some chats and semi-informal conversations with one of my colleagues at the office Reception Area, he said to this colleague of mine, “nobody wants to come to a law firm because nobody wants to be involved in a law suit”. This did not come as a shock to someone like me who has heard similar phrases from the lips of many, both the formally educated and formal illiterates. And I know most of us would not be surprised either. For if you’ve heard phrases like “the law, the law, I fit look for trouble now o”; “if I get matter I go call you”; or even seen stickers like “I am a lawyer, I find trouble”, then you know what I’m ranting about.
This is not just a mindset held by society members, it begins from the very reason held by most parents and guardians for sending their children to study law in our Tertiary Institutions, what our classmates in Secondary Schools think studying law is about and what we sometime believe law encompasses. Little wonder the catalogue of suits congesting our law courts relentlessly.
In this Article, my goal is to cure the myopic ills held by the general society on the relevance of a lawyer in an evolving Nigerian society; ‘a hundred and one reasons you need a lawyer’ you may call it, even though the reasons won’t make up to fifty when severed. My advice, take note of every point and don’t skip the detailed explanations. Someone, if not you, needs it.
- TO DRAFT LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENTS.
We live in a growing society where entering into agreements have become an inevitable routine of life, some oral and some express. Agreements that wield the capacity to change the financial life or otherwise of the individuals entering into them; agreements that may culminate into law suits where the terms are orally made or poorly drafted in the case that they are expressly stated (deduced in writing). This is a vacuum a lawyer is trained to fill. A lawyer trained in Nigeria is equipped with the skill set to draft legally binding and acceptable agreements. And by agreements, I mean and include tenancy agreements, sale of property agreements, other forms of contractual agreements whether between corporate entities (companies), between individuals or between companies and individuals. Under the category of contracts are kinds of agreements too numerable to mention.
And, as a tenant or a Landlord, you need a valid agreement. Yes, you do.
I shook my head when I recently stumbled upon an agreement for the supply of goods between a company and an individual. The binding part of the agreement (the signature section) was so shabbily and negligently done that I assumed the company had no legal department or a lawyer at their rank. The document I saw was, definitely, not going to be a valid evidence in court in the event where the other party fails to perform his part of the contract. Such a case will be lost in arrival.
- TO ESTABLISH LEGALLY RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATIONS.
Organizations are both profitable and nonprofitable in objective. Businesses, companies, Churches, Schools, Clubs, Foundations are all organizations that are required by law to be registered as a condition for recognition and enjoyment of certain forms of protection and prerogatives. You should know where I’m heading by now but in the case that you don’t, you need a lawyer to get those organizations registered; for there is no legal protection of your organization or business without registration. And the scope of this protection is wide.
Mind you, the requirement for an accredited CAC agent (a lawyer) is not for the payment of the required fees to the Corporate Affairs Commission but for getting all your documents ready for swift and hitch-free incorporation, mostly for companies, not for profit organizations (NGOs), churches, schools and clubs.
- TO INFORM AND/OR REMIND YOU OF YOUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AS A CITIZEN.
‘With knowledge comes power’ it is said and the issue of fundamental human rights is one area more than one-half of the citizens of the Nigerian territory are somewhat unwilling to be schooled in. (Here is a disclaimer: this population estimate of one-half is only speculative). Most citizens (and you may be inclusive) are totally oblivious of their constitutionally guaranteed rights and have consequently become helpless victims to acts breaching those rights.
More than often, the rights enshrined in Chapter Four of the Nigerian Constitution are merely paper work unless brought to life by a lawyer.
4.TO INFORM AND/OR REMIND YOU OF YOUR OTHER RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES.
The rights of a Nigerian citizen goes beyond those in the Constitution. Rights and liabilities in contractual agreements, workplace rights, and the likes, are rights and liabilities individuals and parties need to be in full awareness of, and a lawyer can do a great job spotting and interpreting hidden and glaring terms in a contract. It is what he is trained for after all. And doing so could save you from appending your signature in a suicidal document, or put you on check to the teems in the document you ought to sign or may already have signed . Moreover, the terms are, presumably, written by another guy who equally scaled through the Bar Finals.
Mind you, these rights and liabilities apply to Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike.
- TO ENFORCE AND PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS.
We’ve pitched our tents in a society where infringement of rights have become a mainstay if not an impossibility, and it is only one is knowledgeable of his rights that he can enforce them when entrenched, workplace and constitutional rights inclusive. The rights to be protected and enforced extend to right against unlawful arrests, right against physical abuse and assault by military or paramilitary officers, right against discrimination, right against threat to life, and etcetera takes over. You could google up the case of ETENE V. NIGERIAN NAVY with suit No. FHC/CA/M88/2010 for a classic, enjoyable epitome.
- TO KNOW HOW TO ENFORCE YOUR RIGHTS.
As individuals, enforcement of rights is one of the first things on our minds. On the contrary, the importance of knowing ‘the how’ – proper way to execute your rights – cannot be overemphasized, as the adverse effect of enforcing it can be devastating. In the recent case of KURE V. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, for instance, the Supreme Court, once again, condemned the act of using Police Officers as debt recovery and contract enforcement agents. The pitfalls for doing so have been seen in celebrated cases like MCLAREN & ORS V. JENNINGS and GUSAU & ORS V. UMEZURIKE & ANOR.
- TO DRAFT AND EXECUTE YOUR WILLS.
The death wish of a man is usually very important, and the drafting skills of a lawyer cannot be waived here. Properly drafting a will with all its relevant content is one thing, executing it is yet another bridge. Making sure the testamentary intentions of the testator are divest on the intended beneficiaries is one role a lawyer can play to the exclusion of professionals in other realms and walks of life.
- FOR APPEARANCE FEES.
Don’t pay serious attention to this sub-head, take it as the pun that it is.
However, the reminder it is meant for is that the lawyer’s appearance fee in a full litigation is not optional. If he appears in your matter, please, don’t utter or think words like “you’re not entitled to any appearance fees because the matter did not proceed or go on”. The appearance fees are his entitlement for appearing in Court to attend to your matter and not for the matter going on, which may or may not be from his end.
Forget the appearance fees and heed to my advice of not taking it seriously. The synopsis of this gist is that you need a lawyer in most of the activities you’re daily involved in, and saying “as the court pleases” every here and then is not an exception.
If you were looking forward to a classic conclusion, I am happy to dash your hopes with the following remarks. As good, imperative and popular as litigation may be, it is not the only realm a lawyer thrives in. If you get yourself a lawyer, a good lawyer actually, you’ll avoid many things as many things will find a good way to avoid you also. Advice yourself and get a lawyer today, the years of practice notwithstanding. You need him more than you think.
UJONG OKPA (JAN)
Counsel, Milkman Karel & Co
