By Eigbe Alright Osajie, Esq.
Dear Young Lawyer,
If you want pay, then you should also want work o. Hehehehehe.
Once upon a time, I wasn’t having litigation briefs as I wanted, so the Appearance Fees were not coming let alone the professional litigation fees which we all dream of. I was rusting away. To make matters annoying, from having about 3 matters in court a day, I was having no matter in court in a quarter; I was new to Ibadan and did not know people or understood the language. However, I came with a counsel from my former Director, now Honourable Justice Mojisola Sule. She told me as her pupil counsel that no matter what, I should always be active and participate in NBA activities, and that guidance, till date, is the best professional counsel anyone has ever given me.
Through the NBA, I received another sense; attaching myself to seniors who are very busy and don’t have sufficient hands to handle all their matters. I started offering to hold people’s brief with at least, 50% of the Appearance Fees.
This wisdom helped me to regularly be in courts and catch up with new and evolving litigation practices, attract more clients and become more familiar with the members of the bench; “know your judge/court”, they always say.
So if you are not having briefs now, find who has plenty that you can help hold some for. Offer to join some seniors do some matters.
Let me shock you: Since the day I started doing Trademark registration, I have never done one for a “client”. All my clients have been colleagues who don’t want to go through the stress of doing it themselves.
One time, I learned from Busola Ajala’s THE BUSINESS OF LAW that we should grow ourselves to a level were colleagues become our clients. Today, half of all my CAC matters and all of all my Trademark matters are from colleagues.
Chai, that JUSUN’s strike of 2015 made to start looking at LAW, BEYOND THE COURTROOMS. I started looking for ways to profit while working as a lawyer without depending on litigation. And should the Judiciary shut down today for one year, I am certain it wouldn’t affect my finances.
So, dear colleagues, what can I help you with?
My name is Earl, and I am Alright.
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