‘A lawyer must be versatile’
Three years after his death, Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, fondly referred to as 'The Socrates of the Supreme Court', resurrected at the 2nd edition of a professional training and mentoring programme for young lawyers held in his honour in Abuja on May 30, 2017.
The programme, which is organised annually by Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), is aimed at providing mentorship and sense of direction to legal practitioners below 10 years at the bar.
This year's edition was chaired by a serving Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Clara
Bata Ogunbiyi. described the late Oputa as ‘a legal icon’.
Justice Ogunbiyi said: "The organiser of this programme and the person whose evergreen memory it is solely dedicated to, are two eminent personalities in the legal profession who have variously inscribed indelible She Justice marks on the sands of time.”
The eminent jurist took her time to dish out invaluable nuggets on professional conduct and ethos every responsible lawyer must embrace to become successful in life and practice of law.
"To the participants, I will say you have made the right choice of career. As lawyers, you carry a heavy burden on your shoulders. I need to remind you that from the very moment you are called to the Bar, you begin to experience a new status, a new identity and a new disposition. Every single conduct you exhibit is vehemently scrutinised and censored by everybody around you. Your comments and actions are taken with every atom of seriousness,” Justice Ogunbiyi stated.
She added: "As a lawyer, you must be versatile. I would say you should be jack of all trades and master of all. Failure must never be an option in the course of responding to your professional calling. The litigants will always cast their hope and burden on you; and the onus rests squarely on you to prove your mettle.
"You must fine-tune your innate skills and continuously tread on the path of sustainable self-development to attain whatever height you aim at in your chosen career.”
Earlier, the organiser of the event, Chief Gadzama (SAN) stressed the need for other accomplished legal practitioners in the country to take mentoring of young lawyers more seriously.