How to become Senior Advocate of Nigeria
“To be a senior advocate, you must be a leader. You are supposed to be a mentor and an inspiration to the younger ones. The panel would want to see if you are of good character before they can give it to you….” Tawo E Tawo (SAN) in his interview with The Young Wig.
On May 17, 2017, the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee announced the names of sixty seven (67) lawyers and twenty four (24) academicians who are being considered for admission into the rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
According to Wikipedia: “Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is a title that may be conferred on legal practitioners in Nigeria of not less than 10 years standing and who have distinguished themselves in the legal profession. It is the equivalent of the Queen’s Counsel in the United kingdom…”
Who then is eligible to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria? By the provisions of the guidelines for the conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (2016), the candidate must be a legal practitioner called to the bar and practicing in Nigeria as an advocate, and must have been in active and current practice and has been so for at least ten (10) years immediately preceding the date of application.
The candidate must be of good character and have no pending disciplinary case or complaint relating to professional misconduct against him/her. A candidate should demonstrate clear qualities of leadership and loyalty to the legal profession, and must have paid his/her practicing fee and branch dues in the last ten (10) years preceding his/her application form.
A candidate for the rank of senior advocate should demonstrate tangible contribution to the development of the law through case law or publications in recognised journals or scholarly presentations at national or international conferences considered by the LPPC to be of particular significance.
An applicant must have conducted trial as a substantial counsel in at least twenty (20) cases at the High Court or coordinate jurisdiction and must have duly settled and argued four (4) judgments at the Court of Appeal and three (3) judgments at the Supreme Court. The LPPC shall conduct a Law Office physical inspection of the chambers of the candidates that have made the final inspection list. The chamber inspection is geared towards evaluating the level and quality of the facilities provided in the chambers and shall take into account: (a) size and quality of library, (b) quality of office space and other facilities available (c) number of junior counsels in chamber, (d) number and quality of support staff, (e) maintenance of proper books of accounts.
The evaluation of the candidates competence shall be based on the following criteria; (a) Integrity 20 percent, (b) Opinion of Justices/Judges and the strength of reference received by the candidate 20 percent, (c) General knowledge of law 25 percent, (d) Contribution to development of Law 10 percent, (e) leadership qualities in the profession 10 percent, (f ) Qualities of law office/library 15 percent.
The LPPC may from time to time fix the number of persons to be conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria each year, having regard to the need to maintain the highest standard of excellence and prestige of the rank.
“To my mind, the quest to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria is not a decision to make at the time when the legal practitioner wants to put in the application. It is a decision you take once you discover your path and what you desire to achieve in the legal profession. It ought to be a 10-year plan: from the moment a legal practitioner decides he/she wants to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, from that moment, you begin to work your way through the conditions for acquiring same.
If one has been a legal practitioner disliked by many colleagues: both senior and junior, even judges, or lacks one criteria or the other that might be a hindrance to becoming a senior advocate, then it behoves on such legal practitioner to begin the ten 10-year walk of cleansing to become one. Don’t wait till when it’s time to put an application to start meeting the requirements: start meeting the requirements now.
“There is a reason why the guidelines say ten (10) years preceding the time of application,” Tawo E Tawo said.
Wishing all applicants the best! Godspeed! Do send your comment{s}, observation{s} and recommendation{s} to danielbulusson@gmail.com or like us on www.facebook.com/ younglawyerscolumn