Nigeria’s first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Folake Solanke, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Mr Layi Babatunde, SAN and many other senior lawyers have charged young lawyers in the country to embibe the virtue of intergrity and hardwork in their practice.
The senior lawyers gave the advice at the maiden mentoring session for young lawyers tagged ‘time out with the masters’ organised by Lawbreed Ltd.
Other senior lawyers who attended the session include Prof. Abiola Sanni, Mr. Wale Adesokan, SAN, Mr Wemimo Ogunde, SAN, Olusola Idowu, SAN, Mr Niyi Onipade, SAN, Deacon Dele Adesina, SAN, Mr Lekan Yusuf, SAN, Mr Dotun Makinde, SAN, Prof. M. Abdulrasaq, Chief Akinwande Delano, SAN among many others.
In her opening remarks, Chairman of the event, Chief Solanke urged young lawyers to imbibe virtues such as integrity, honesty, courtesy hard work, good appearance and punctuality in other to succeed in their profession.
She noted that it worrisome that the standard of the bar has deteriorated and urged the young lawyers to make strenuous effort to elevate the standard for the sake of the profession.
Chief Solanke said, “I appeal to the authorities to consider a drastic cut in the number of students admitted to read law in the Universities and for training in the Law School. The situation is dire.”
On his part, Chief Olanipekun admonished young lawyers to resist the temptation of always relying on artificial intelligence, saying the best gift is what one puts in his or her brain.
He said, “Law is not for lazy people. It is not a part time profession. You cannot be trading and at the same time be practicing law. You must be focused, cultivate good idea and habits.
“It is very worrisome that nobody wants to read books again. Everyone is now relying on artificial intelligence. You must resist this. The best education and knowledged you can give to yourself, is the one you put inside your brain. You must strive to be the master of whatever area of the law you chose to pursue. You must read widely and show that indeed you are a learned person is every aspect of lives.”
Organiser of the event, Mr Layi Babatunde expressed concern that young lawyer are now averse to reading judgments but would rather rely only on law reports.
“As young lawyers, you must be wary of ‘fast food’ advocacy. Fast food is quick and available, but most times it is not quite healthy. Over indulgence in it could be disastrous health wise.”
Former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Section on Business Law, Mr George Etomi, tutored young lawyers on pathways to becoming a successful commercial lawyer, while past chair, Nigerian Branch, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Mr Tunde Busari coached the lawyers on the pathways to becoming a successful Arbitrator.
Other Senior lawyers took time to speak to the young lawyers.
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