Using lawyers to serve processes causes stir

The issue of whether or not lawyers should be engaged as process servers by the Lagos State Judiciary over the weekend divided legal practitioners nationwide.

While some lawyers see it as a smart initiative others said it was a very big insult to lawyers, and therefore demanded that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) takes a position on it.

Lagos based lawyer Samuel Adekola said the NBA should take a position on the issue before lawyers were relegated to the status of messengers.

Chairman NBA, Ikorodu branch, Bayo Akinlade, threw more light on the issue and the reasoning behind the state judiciary’s position. According to him, the decision was reached in the midst of the several complaints about bailiffs and corruption in the Lagos State judiciary.

“Now we have a situation where our own colleagues can float a department in their respective law firms approved by the CJ to serve all processes thereby giving me the choice to use the court sheriff or my own certified colleagues to serve processes,” he said.

Another lawyer, Raymond Adekunle Olaiya Akinsemonye, said there is nothing special in serving court processes that a lawyer needed to be employed.

For his part, Ebun Adegboruwa said “let’s not misunderstand the intendment of the policy on Process Servers please. It is actually meant to curb the excesses of the court bailiffs and help lawyers and litigants overcome the bureaucracy and delays often attributed to that difficult area of legal practice. I think the idea should be encouraged and commended.

“I have myself directed that our office should apply to be listed as process servers, so we can serve originating processes and hearing notices,” he added.