OlayinkaOyelami Legal

OlayinkaOyelamiLegal | Cutting-edge Legal Services

2019-12-04T03:32:00.001-08:00

BN is ideally the best business structure for the MSMEs because of simplicity in its registration, commencement of operation and ease in management. The question is, “Why do you need to register your BN or MSME?” Click here http://www.olayinkaoyelamicorporation.com/partners Learn more

OlayinkaOyelamiLegal | Cutting-edge Legal Services

Leasing Commercial Real Estate

2019-10-03T04:27:00.000-07:00

Real estate is such a valuable long-term asset, it is important to learn as much as you can. Real estate is something that most people have experience in, whether as landlords or tenants, or as buyers or sellers. Residential real estate makes up our homes, and those of our families, while commercial real estate is where we shop and do business.

Leasing commercial property is different than leasing residential property because business owners have different needs, rights, and responsibilities than residential tenants.

Renting to a commercial tenant means you’ll likely have a more comprehensive screening process, for one. The negotiations of the lease terms, such as the way you sort out rent, also tend to be more extensive because each agreement will differ based on the tenant, the size of the space, and the tenant’s intent for the property.

A Commercial Lease Agreement is used when a tenant rents out property for the purpose of conducting business activities.

Typically, commercial properties are categorized as:

Office space
Retail store
Restaurant
Industrial building
Warehouse
Multi-use building

Other types of commercial property can include any spaces not intended for residential use, such as self-storage facilities, recreational facilities, gyms, medical clinics, hotels, and more. It’s also common, especially in urban centers, to have larger commercial properties with retail spaces and warehouses on the first floor and offices or even apartments occupying the floors above.

Commercial leases don’t have "standard" fixed term lengths like residential leases often have. Much like every other aspect of commercial renting, the duration of the lease is negotiable. However, commercial landlords typically want their leases to have longer terms, usually three, five, or ten years.

Longer leases tend to work well for both the landlord and the tenant because they require a great deal of trust and commitment between the parties. Some tenants don’t like the idea of being locked into a lease for five or ten years, but you can always reassure them that their lease terms can be renegotiated with a Lease Amendment.

In addition to the lease agreement, there are a few other forms that commercial landlords can benefit from having in their arsenals.

The following is a list of useful forms, some of which you might be familiar with if you’ve already had residential tenants:

Commercial Lease Application: This document is used by landlords or property managers to collect information on potential commercial (or business) tenants before agreeing to lease the property.

Rent Receipt: This simple document provides proof of rent payment. It’s a great way to keep a record of income (for the landlord) and expenditures (for the tenant). Receipts can help settle any disputes over late or partial payments.

Lease Amendment: An amendment details changes made to an existing lease agreement. It demonstrates agreement to specific changes or additions without cancelling or negating the original lease.

Landlord's Consent to Sublease: If a tenant wants to lease their space to a new tenant, they will require the landlord’s permission. This letter grants formal permission to sublet.

It should be noted that landlords can prohibit subletting entirely with a clause in the lease agreement.

Landlord's Consent to Lease Assignment: Sometimes existing tenants can find new viable tenants to take on their lease obligations so they can move out. This letter is a form of written permission allowing the original tenant to transfer those rights and obligations.

Similar to subletting, a landlord can prohibit lease assignments in the lease agreement. Tenants should refer to the terms of their specific lease as a first step to subletting or assigning a lease.

Figured out what kind of Commercial Lease you need?

CREATE YOUR LEASE

OlayinkaOyelami LLP | Cutting-edge Legal Services

2019-09-17T02:59:00.001-07:00

Legal document creation has blossomed into a major area where technology is leading the way. For example, one has a multitude of choices to automate the drafting, reviewing and even red-lining of a number of legal documents.

Like legal process outsourcing, document automation has been around for a long time, decades even. But the push to drive legal spend down while keeping outcomes consistent has shined a new light on document automation and what the future might hold.

One of the biggest upsides to document automation is that It leaves more time for client matters – making attorneys more productive, efficient (read: wasting fewer dollars doing manual tasks that can be accomplished using technology) and collaborative. Click Here http://www.olayinkaoyelamicorporation.com/partners Learn More... OlayinkaOyelami LLP | Cutting-edge Legal Services

The Legal Industry’s Skills Gap

2019-07-09T08:45:00.001-07:00

Law schools have ceded an opportunity to shore up their balance sheets and to do right by grads, the legal industry, and the broader society. How? They have failed to transition from three-year degree stopovers to learning centers for life that upskill grads and other professionals throughout their careers. This would have created “stickiness” with alumni/ae throughout their professional lives and transformed law schools into lifetime learning hubs. In the digital age where competency, micro-credentialing, collaboration, upskilling, people-skills, and agile learning are critical, law schools are relics of the legal guild. Why?

There are a legion of explanations: complacency, detachment from the University—notably the business, engineering, computer science, and mathematics schools– as well as the broader legal ecosystem and business community, faculty composition/hiring criteria, the American Bar Association’s ineffective law school accreditation oversight, and absence of accountability and performance metrics—especially student outcomes, and self-regulation. Law schools are an island that has become increasingly detached from the broader legal mainland.

The inertia of law schools, like law firms, went unchallenged for decades. Their applicant pool was plentiful, the job market was robust, the curricula were unchanged and unchallenged, and they were cash positive. That rosy picture fueled the growth and proliferation of law schools from the 1980’s until the global financial crisis of 2008. The confluence of that economic maelstrom and its aftermath coincided with rapid advances in technology, the ever- escalating cost of law school and its three-year hitch, a downturn in the legal job market, and disaggregation of a growing number of “legal” tasks. This resulted in the migration of young talent away from law and into other professional service and business careers.

Law School Stasis In An Age of Disruption

Law schools have largely failed to engage in material reform during the post-financial crisis decade, especially the top-tier ones. Their inertia has contributed to an ever-widening skills gap in the legal industry, a challenge and opportunity law schools have failed to respond to meaningfully. Law schools—like firms for whom they have long served as supply sources– have failed to align with and adapt to a changing marketplace. The ramifications affect the entire legal ecosystem and beyond.

Law schools continue to prepare grads to “think like a lawyer” even as the function, role, skillsets, workplace, and career paths of lawyers are changing dramatically. Law schools still rely on firms to provide practice experience even as clients decline to subsidize on-the-job training of young lawyers. They are preparing grads for practice careers in a market where the practice of law is shrinking and the business of delivering legal services is expanding. Their pedagogy remains rooted in legal doctrine when law is now a three-legged stool supported by legal, business, and technology. They teach the rudiments of legal expertise when that alone will no longer cut it for most lawyers. They perpetuate a mindset and culture of “lawyers and ‘non-lawyers’” when law is now about legal professionals, only some of whom are licensed attorneys.

The New Tools For Success

Competency, not diplomas, dictates marketplace success in the digital age. Diplomas still matter, of course, and so does the granting institution’s brand. But exposure to a new suite of augmented skill sets is what really matters, especially after one’s first gig. The core skills required of legal professionals—apart from baseline legal knowledge—are common among other industries in the digital age, a time when traditional boundaries separating professions/industries are increasingly blurred.

The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report examines the skills required in the digital age. Critical thinking and problem solving, key elements of traditional legal pedagogy, remain. Other critical workplace skills–notably emotional intelligence (EQ), creativity, cognitive flexibility and collaboration– are now equally important workplace competencies. These contemporary skills—and others including project/process management, data analytics, design, business basics, digital basics, risk prediction/management, and talent management—are largely ignored by the legal Academy and most executive education programs. They are also undervalued by legal industry talent managers even as they have become essential to satisfy rapidly changing legal buyer expectations. These skills are foundational elements of new legal positions to be filled now and many more as-yet to be created.

New Courses Don’t Necessarily Translate to Marketable Skills

Law schools have recently introduced many new courses, but few address the skills gap. Legal tech courses are proliferating, for example, but few provide a technological use-case , competitive market analysis, design planning, cost/time to develop, etc. Legal entrepreneur courses, another hot offering, are often taught by professors with no entrepreneurial experience and little knowledge of the marketplace. Sexy as these courses might be for students, why not focus on building block courses like business, data analytics, and digital transformation basics for lawyers? These are foundational elements for all lawyers and legal professionals and are marketable.

Dan Rodriguez, a colleague and friend, recently authored a cogent article positing that “law schools, when considered as a whole, are working hard on innovation.” While some—myself included—might consider this an overly generous assessment of the Academy’s efforts to modernize, Rodriguez pulls no punches acknowledging that US law schools “are fundamentally inadequate, at times border on the functionally illiterate, when it comes to collecting, synthesizing, and analyzing data.” He cites a number of critical use cases that include the impact of curriculum change, student outcomes, externships, and other collective performance metrics. While law schools’ poor grade on data adoption mirrors the broader legal ecosystem, it is particularly troubling in an academic setting where many tenured professors devote much of their time to research. How can research be meaningful and relevant absent data to support it as well as the use case for engaging in it?

Law Schools Are Focused on New Revenue Streams, Not Solutions to Systemic Challenges

Most law school Deans pay considerable attention to new revenue streams to stanch their fiscal bleeding. While this is understandable, it does not address the underlying systemic challenges their schools face— educational structure/curricula; an unsustainable economic model; outmoded faculty configuration including preference for PhD’s, not practitioners, and relegation of adjuncts (practitioners) to marginal status and pay. This short-term fiscal fix does nothing to advance the interests of students, alums in need of upskilling, providers, clients, and society at large.

It’s past time for law schools to accept a measure of responsibility for the profession’s failing grades on addressing the access to justice crisis, improving the profession’s woefully low net promoter score, reducing the exorbitant cost and staggering debt burden of legal education, providing graduates with training for law in the digital age, and offering more effective career services that commence upon matriculation and continue throughout grads’ professional careers. Legal education must not end with a diploma; it should be a lifetime collaboration between the institution and alumni/ae. The foundation of the compact should be a commitment to prepare grads to advance the interests of clients, society, and the rule of law.

Who Will Solve The Legal Industry’s Skills Gap?

If the legal Academy does not take the lead to solve the legal industry’s skills gapwho will? Short answer: Government, the private sector, and a handful of academic institutions that have forged strong marketplace ties and tailor their curricula to its needs. Here are some examples.

Singapore is taking bold, sweeping steps to modernize the legal industry domestically, throughout the ASEAN region, and beyond. Singapore is a global leader in digitization, and it has tasked the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) to apply digital principles to the legal function. SAL is galvanizing all segments of the legal ecosystem in this effort—Government, the judiciary, regulators, business, the Academy, and international thought leaders. One of SAL’s many noteworthy initiatives is the LIFTED (SAL’s educational arm) Global Partners Initiative, a global, diverse, multidisciplinary group of thought leaders and doers charged with producing a white paper detailing key skillsets for all legal professionals around the globe. This will serve as a roadmap for global legal education and training upon its issuance in mid-2020 and beyond.

The private sector is beginning to address the legal industry’s skills gap. DXC Technology (DXC) and UnitedLex (ULX), collaborators in a groundbreaking enterprise legal services agreement, have been inundated by requests from General Counsel to share their digital journey. Building off DXC’s digital transformation centers and UnitedLex’s global infrastructure and UnitedLex Academy, the companies are planning to launch the Legal Digital Exchange (DXE), a unique, business-to-business digital legal community and training center. DXE is designed to apply digital transformation and experiential training techniques to the legal function to solve real-world, high-stakes business challenges in real-time. A formal announcement will be forthcoming this Fall.

The Corporate Legal Consortium (CLOC), The Institute for the Future of Law Practice(IFLP), and LawWithoutWalls are three examples of market-aligned, client-centric, legal upskilling programs that have successfully bridged the gap between the marketplace and the Academy. A handful of international law schools including Bucerius (Germany), IE (Spain) and the soon-to-launch Ryerson (Canada) meld law with business and technology, take a global approach, have faculties with industry experience, and collaborate with thought leaders and other leading Universities from around the world. US law schools would be wise to emulate them.

Conclusion

The legal industry’s skills gap is real, pressing, and global. The problem can no longer be ignored, even if most law schools choose to. The tools, resources, capital, collaborative mindset, and expertise required to tackle it at scale exist. It’s up to law schools to decide whether they remain the problem or collaborate in its solution.

Mark A. CohenContributor

I am the CEO of Legal Mosaic, a legal business consultancy; speaker; author; and Distinguished Fellow at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. I was recently…Read More

Business Registration and Online Presence Benefits for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

2017-11-21T00:14:00.001-08:00

Starting a business is always the fun part: Coming up with an idea, registration of business name, building an online presence, and imagining all the things the business will become once it takes off. But without marketing knowledge, driving traffic and making sales can become an entrepreneur’s biggest hurdle on the road to success. Business Name (BN), popularly called Enterprise in Nigeria, is a form of legally recognized business organizations in Nigeria. Clearly, most Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) come, and in fact can be conveniently organized, under the Business Name structure.

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It is no longer news that Nigeria woefully failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ended in 2015, particularly Goal 1 which was to reduce extreme poverty. Thankfully, the United Nations in January, 2016 launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are a guide to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) policy and funding for the next 14 years. The SDGs, among other essentials, recognize a universal commitment to actions to end poverty. In Africa, the simplest way to end poverty is to encourage MSMEs to start, have access to finance and funding as well as sustained entrepreneurship mentorship and supports from both the Government and successful private sector players.

BN is ideally the best business structure for the MSMEs because of simplicity in its registration, commencement of operation and ease in management. The question is, “Why do you need to register your BN or MSME?”

First, an entrepreneur needs to register his/her enterprise to comply with the requirement of law, that Business Names should be registered, with the exception of very few circumstances. In other words, Nigerian law makes it compulsory for Business Names to be registered. The particular Nigerian law here is the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Chapter C20 2004. Under the CAMA, every person or firm carrying on a business under a Business Name (apart from those exempted), must register the Business Name within twenty-eight days after starting the business. This is the combined meaning of sections 573 (1) and 574 (1) of the CAMA. The said sections are reproduced as follows:

573 (1) CAMA
Every individual, firm or corporation having a place of business in Nigeria and carrying on business under a business name shall be registered in the manner provided in this Part of this Act…

574 (1) CAMA
Every firm, individual or corporation required under this Act to be registered shall, within twenty-eight days after the firm, individual or corporation commences the business in respect of which registration is required or within three months of the coming into operation of this Act furnish to the Registrar at the register office for the State in which the principal place of the firm, company or individual is situated, a statement in writing in the prescribed form…

The simple effect of the above sections of the CAMA is that any person or entity having a place of business in Nigeria under a Business Name, e.g. Travel and Hospitality, must register that brand name with the Corporate Affairs Commission within twenty-eight days of starting the business.

However, there are instances when registration of Business Name is not compulsory. The instances, which are contained in section 573 (1) (a), (b), (c) and (2) (a), (b), (c) of CAMA, are:

In the case of an INDIVIDUAL, if he/she uses his full name, initial and surname(s) without any addition.
In the case of a FIRM/PARTNERSHIP, if it uses the full name, initial and surname(s) of the partners without any addition.
In the case of a COMPANY/CORPORATION, the company or corporation uses its corporate name without any addition.
Where the addition merely shows that the business is carried on in succession to a former owner of the business, the additional element need not be registered.
If two or more INDIVIDUAL PARTNERS have the same surname and there is an addition of an “S” at the end of the surname, which shows plurality.
If the business is carried on by a RECEIVER/MANAGER appointed by any court.
One important benefit of registering one’s BN or MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise) is that upon registration, a certificate of registration of the Business Name is issued, and that name becomes a corporate name.

On the other hand, if an individual or firm carries on business under a Business Name of which registration is required under the CAMA and fails to register it, that individual or every partner in the firm becomes guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N50 for every day during which the default continues.

The effect of not registering a Business Name which the CAMA makes compulsory to be registered is that the structure of the BN or MSME is illegal. In commercial litigation, an enterprise founded on illegality cannot take benefit of any contract it enters into in its illegal name. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has had the opportunity to emphasise on the effect of illegality. In the case of Ajayi v. Total Nigeria Plc (2013) LPELR-20898, p. 15, paras. D-F, Mohammed, JSC (as he then was) noted:

“The law is indeed well settled as argued by the Appellant and duly supported by the cases of Okoyi v. Santilli (supra) and Sodipo v. Lemninkainen (supra) cited and relied upon by him, that where a court of law in the course of a matter finds an illegality punishable under the law, even if not triable in that Court but in another Tribunal without prejudice to it referring the matter to that Tribunal, must take cognizance of the illegality. In other words, the law is trite that once a transaction is illegal, it is void and all things emanating from that transaction is a nullity.”

Also, in the case of Corporate Ideal Insurance Ltd. v. Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd. (2014) LPELR-22255, p. 39, paras. B-C, Fabiyi, JSC speaking for the Supreme Court of Nigeria, stated as follows:

“On the whole, the non-compliance of the parties herein with the provisions of Sections 50(1) and 93(2) of the Insurance Act 1997 rendered their contract of Insurance illegal and unenforceable by either party. The Court cannot close its eyes to illegality as it is the duty of every Court to refuse to enforce a transaction or contract.”

Therefore individuals or partners can enter into transactions or contracts in their registered BNs, and will derive every necessary legal benefit.

Second, a registered BN enjoys a corporate recognition and distinctiveness, in that no other name that is identical with or similar to the already registered BN will be subsequently registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission. Also a registered BN takes priority over an unregistered similar BN, which in effect renders the unregistered BN unrecognizable in law.

Consequently, any person or firm that trades under a registered BN or any name that is similar to the registered BN that is calculated to deceive persons who know of and intend to have business dealings with the registered BN will be liable for the tort of passing off. Such a person or firm will be restrained by court of law from carrying on business under the registered BN. This was the situation in the case of Niger Chemists Ltd. v. Nigeria Chemists (1961) All N.L.R. 171. Here the plaintiffs had carried on business as chemists in the registered name “Niger Chemists Ltd.” for several years in Onitsha and other towns in the then Eastern Nigeria. The defendants later started the same line of business under the name “Nigeria Chemists.” The plaintiffs sued the defendants for actionable passing off, and sought for an order of court stopping the defendants from carrying on business in the name “Nigeria Chemists”. The court agreed with the plaintiffs and ordered the defendants to stop carrying on business under the name “Nigeria Chemists.”

It is to be noted that an unregistered BN cannot take priority over a registered BN. This may be illustrated by considering Aisha Nkem and Kemi Briggs, two female entrepreneurs who had separately come up with the brand names, “Naija Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace” and “9ja Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace”, respectively. Though Aisha Nkem first started business under the unregistered name “Naija Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace”, but Kemi Briggs who had learnt of the successes and rising goodwill of “Naija Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace” quietly proceeded to the Corporate Affairs Commission and got her name “9ja Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace” registered. The simple effect of the registration of “9ja Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace” is that it takes priority over Aisha Nkem’s unregistered “Naija Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace”, and Aisha Nkem will not succeed if she goes to court to stop Kemi Briggs from carrying on business under her registered “9ja Queens Fashion & Beauty Palace.”

Similarly, a registered BN enjoys the protection contained in section 8 of the Trade Marks Act. It states as follows:

The registration of a trade mark shall not interfere with-
(a) any bona fide use by a person of his own name or the name of his place of business, or of the name, or the name of the place of business, of any of his predecessors in business.

Obviously, it is only a registered BN (except the categories not under the mandatory list) that the registration of a particular trade mark name will not interfere with the use of its place of business in the event that the registered trade mark name is similar with the name of the place of business.

Though a registered BN does not have what is known in legal jargon as juristic personality, i.e. the right to sue and be sued in its corporate name, like the incorporated company, the rules of practice and procedure relating to commercial litigation with respect to registered BNs have become more liberal. The various Rules of the High Court and the Magistrates’ Court now allow two or more persons who carry on a business as partners to sue or to be sued in the name of the firm. Also a person carrying on a business under a BN whether registered or unregistered may be sued in such name as if it were a firm. The Supreme Court of Nigeria and the Court of Appeal of Nigeria have restated these flexible rules of procedure and practice in the cases of Iyke Medical Merchandise v. Pfizer Inc. (2001) LPELR-1579 and F.O. Loy v. Registered Trustees of New Covenant Church (2017) LPELR-42183, respectively.

However, if a wrong is done against an unregistered BN, the unregistered BN cannot successfully sue to redress the wrong in its unregistered name because it will not be allowed to benefit from its illegality, i.e. having not been registered as required under the CAMA as stated above.

A third basic reason for formal registration of one’s BN is to enable one to have access to finance and loan facilities from formal lenders. Formal lenders, whether commercial banks or interventionist lenders such the Bank of Industries, before looking at the bankability of one’s venture will first want to know whether the business has been registered as required by law. So the registration of a BN is the basic eligibility requirement for business loans in Nigeria.

Unfortunately, in Nigeria most MSMEs can hardly access business loans because of their inability to provide the collaterals acceptable to formal lenders. Most formal lenders in Nigeria insist that borrowers should collateralize their loans with registered title document, i.e. certificate of occupancy. Why formal lenders insist on registered title document as collateral is for easy of recovery of the loan sum and interest upon default by the borrower. Clearly, MSME start-ups can hardly afford this collateral of certificate of occupancy. Consequently, MSMEs become excluded from accessing business loans.

Today, the good news is that there are now guarantees by law for formal lenders to accept movable assets such as cars, shares, copyright, patents, salaries, earnings, profits, agricultural produce, etc. as collaterals. This was by the passing into law of the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act, 2017 by the National Assembly which came into effect on the 30th day of May, 2017. So the strength of this law, formal lenders can now accept movable assets as collaterals for business loans. Therefore, an MSME entrepreneur who has a viable movable asset can now approach any commercial bank in Nigeria or any other formal lender for business loans.

Fourth, the need to open and maintain a corporate bank account in the name of a business underscores why it has to be registered. Without certificate of Business Name registration no commercial bank will open a corporate account in the name of a business entity. This is part of the requirements of Know Your Customer Banking Guidelines. Every business, especially an MSME start-up needs to have a running corporate bank account particularly a current account to enjoy overdrafts.

Firth, a registered BN becomes an identifiable source of an entrepreneur’s tax obligation. By section 1(a) of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), income taxes are imposed on individuals, communities and families, and are assessed based on the total income of such individuals, communities and families, in each applicable year. In a given period, if the financial books of a registered BN show no profit, the owner of the business is not to be taxed in that given period. Thus, with a registered BN one can avoid taxes. Tax avoidance is not unlawful.

Sixth, where the business involves foreign ownership or participation, the business must be registered before it can commence operations. Section 19(1) of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission Act states that,

An enterprise in which foreign participation is permitted under section 17 of this Act, shall not commence business, except it is incorporated or registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

Thus, for a foreigner or foreign business to participate in the Nigerian market where not exclusively reserved for Nigerians, the foreign business must be registered.

Seventh, for one to be prequalified to bid for contracts or procurements for any government agency or multi-national company in Nigeria, one is usually required to show evidence of one’s Business Name registration. In fact, certificate of Business Name registration or certificate of incorporation in the case of company is a basic prequalification document for most, if not all, public procurements. Generally, a business entity not registered as required under the CAMA cannot be prequalified to bid for public contracts or procurements in Nigeria

Facebook ecommerce and advertising on Facebook is a powerful ways to generate revenue and an essential part of any ecommerce entrepreneur's plan to grow a long-lasting online business. With Shopify's Messenger channel, Facebook Page integration, and Guide to Facebook Advertising for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs, you’ll be able to reach the right audience and generate more sales on the world's largest social network..Here are a few ideas on how to increase your ecommerce business’ sales using Facebook:

Activate the Shopify Messenger channel to turn conversations with potential customers into sales

Activate the Shop section of your Facebook page Set up your Facebook page’s Call to Action button to direct people to your online store

Read Shopify’s Guide to Facebook Advertising for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs to learn everything you need to know in order to successfully—and profitably—use Facebook Ads for your ecommerce business.

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Federal High Court Squashed Law Graduates of Natio...

2017-10-08T04:38:00.001-07:00

OlayinkaOyelamiPublishing Blog: Federal High Court Squashed Law Graduates of Natio...: A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt Wednesday squashed a suit by law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria, NO...

What are THE DIGITAL LITERATE LAW GRADUATES of NOUN looking for in NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL that they've not already gotten from their learning at NOUN?.

Sometimes, i wonder what this generation of digital compliant minds are looking for in Nigerian 12th century medieval modeled schools and Nigerian Law School for that matter in this 21st century tech age when your can access any information you need to advancement your life and humanity at the comfort of your home on your phone.

Why wasting valuable time and resources on obsolete and invalid schools that can not add value to your life? The legal service in this 21st century is in the world of internet-based global businesses, online document production, commoditized service, legal process outsourcing, and web based simulation practice.

The global legal markets has been liberalized with evolution of internet with new jobs for lawyers and new employers too...Why wasting time and resources for appearance in COURT where you can NEVER get JUSTICE. Read more...

The Rules Of Professional Conduct For Legal Practitioners, 2007

2017-08-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Many Lawyers and New Wigs find it difficult to acclimatize their brains with the code of conducts for legal practitioners; Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007. This challenges faced by our aspirants to the bar, to whom knowledge of professional ethics is of paramount important in the Bar Finals’ examination calls for this highlights of the rules for easy grasp.

Highlights of the Rules of Professional Conduct

This highlights will cover the general responsibility of lawyers, role and duties of counsel to court, duty of counsel to other lawyers, duty of counsel to clients, improper attraction of business, remuneration and miscellaneous.

General Responsibility of Lawyers

As a legal practitioner, you have a general responsibility not to engage in any conduct which is unbecoming of a lawyer,[1] not to admit unqualified persons into the profession,[2] nor aid the unauthorised practice of law.[3] Avoid intermediaries in your work[4] but you are free to partner with other legal practitioners.[5] If you are in judicial or public employment,[6] don’t engage in business[7] or any salaried employment.[8] Take note that; practicing fee is compulsory,[9] obtain your accredited seal and stamp,[10] attend Continuing Professional Development course,[11] you are entitle to practicing certificate[12] and notify NBA when you set-up a new office.[13]

Duties of Counsel to Clients

As you relate with your client(s), you are to dedicate and devote to your client cause,[14] represent him within the bounds of law[15] and represent him competently.[16] Avoid conflict of interest[17] where there is agreement with you[18] or he entrust you with privilege information.[19] As a witness[20] do not withdraw from his employment[21] or call at his house.[22] In dealing with his property,[23] you have responsibility for litigation[24] and you must investigate facts and ensure proper production of witness.[25]

Duties of Counsel to other Lawyers

As you relate with other lawyers, keep fellowship and precedence,[26] your acts should be fair and in good faith,[27] you can associate with them in single matter,[28] and observe the rules when your client change or debrief you.[29]

Role and Duties of Counsel to Court

As you relate with the court, being an officer[30] you have a duty of good conduct,[31] candid and fair dealing,[32] not to publicise trials.[33] Beware of your closeness to judges,[,[34] respect tribunals,[35] act with decorum,[36] do the necessary in the best interest of your client but don’t stand bail for them,[37] and exert your best effort while handling the brief of an indigent client.[38]

Improper Attraction of Business

As a professional tycoon; don’t solicit but fairly advertise,[39] use note-papers, envelopes and visit cards,[40] signs and note;[41] books and articles[42] are also allowed. You can publish your new address,[43] your willingness to associate with other lawyers in your locality.[44] Be robe in superior courts,[45] you can handle some press, radio and television legal interviews,[46] but don’t instigate litigation.[47]

Remuneration

As a professional employee, you are entitle to remuneration,[48] you can accept general or special retainer,[49] arrange for contingent fee in civil matters,[50] but don’t agree to pay litigation expenses.[51] Your fee should be reasonable and commensurate,[52] avoid sharing your legal service fee,[53] and don’t accept gifts from your client’s opponents.[54]

Miscellaneous

The provisions of the rules are enforceable against any person bearing the second word[55] as defined in the interpretation rule,[56] see the citation.[57]

Conclusion

The above rules segmented and summarize will make one appreciate the rules of professional conduct at his fingertips. It’s the responsibility of lawyers or law students to appreciate the entire rules and applied them when the need arise.

In 1963, an American attorney named Reed Lawlor published a prescient article in the journal of the American Bar Association. “In a few years,” he wrote, “lawyers will rely more and more on computers to perform many tasks for them. They will not rely on computers simply to do their bookkeeping, filing or other clerical tasks. They will also use them in their research and in the analysis and prediction of judicial decisions. In the latter tasks, they will make use of modern logic and the mathematical theory of probability, at least indirectly.” Learn more about Virtual Law Practice

Lawsuit Survival Guide: A Client’s Companion to Litigation

2017-04-05T09:48:00.001-07:00

When you have a legal problem, you need legal information. Lawyers, of course, are prime sources of this information, but if you bought all the needed information at their rates — $150 to $450 an hour — you’d quickly empty your bank account. Fortunately, many lawyers will work with you to help you acquire a good working knowledge of the legal principles and procedures you need to deal with your problem at least partly on your own.

If you are hoping to represent yourself and use a lawyer only for advice, make sure the lawyer is open to that type of set-up. Likewise, if you’re going into business and will draft your own bylaws or business agreements, ask the lawyer if she’s open to reviewing your drafts and making comments. Virtual law practice is revolutionizing the way the public receives legal services and how legal professionals work with clients. Stephanie Kimbro’s practical guide teaches lawyers how to set up and run a virtual law firm. It provides case studies of individual

Further Resources

For more tips on choosing and working with a lawyer, see the eBook The Lawsuit Survival Guide: A Client’s Companion to Litigation, by Joseph Matthews (Nolo).

OlayinkaOyelamiAcademy Blog: Practical Training To Those Aspiring To Become Leg...

2017-02-06T08:06:00.001-08:00

OlayinkaOyelamiAcademy Blog: Practical Training To Those Aspiring To Become Leg...: The Nigerian Law School was set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1962. The aim of the institution was to provide for the loca...

Building the 21st-Century Law Firm envisions how to start and manage a legal practice using the latest technology and tactics.

2017-01-19T09:59:00.001-08:00

Clients don’t want to have to struggle to find the right lawyer or fight to work with the right lawyer. Get insights into Building the 21st-Century Law Firm envisions how to start and manage a legal practice using the latest technology and tactics. Click here Legal Services – OlayinkaOyelamiCorporation (OOCORP)

Senate Committee to hold public hearing on NOUN Ac...

2017-01-14T06:26:00.001-08:00

OOCORP News: Senate Committee to hold public hearing on NOUN Ac...: Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions will hold a public hearing on the National Open University Bill on Monday, January 16. This i...

Born Before Computer (BBC) Virus Afflicting The Au...

2017-01-14T06:12:00.001-08:00

OlayinkaOyelamiPublishing Blog: Born Before Computer (BBC) Virus Afflicting The Au...: In the concluding part of its campaign against what it termed injustice against two major institutions in the country, and institutiona...

Virtual Law Practice is Revolutionizing Delivery of Legal Services, Lowering Costs as Well as Evening The Playing Field For Legal Services Online That Brings Law Practice Up to Speed With The 21st Century Legal MarketPlace

2016-11-23T04:36:00.001-08:00

Virtual Law Practice or Virtual Law Office, is an online law practice that exists through a secure log-in portal and can be accessed by both clients and attorneys anywhere an internet connection is available. In contrast to a traditional law practice, a Virtual Law Practice allows attorneys and clients to communicate securely over the internet, download or upload documents, and conduct other business normally conducted face-to-face over the internet.

A virtual law firm is a legal practice that does not have a bricks-and-mortar office, but operates from the homes or satellite offices of its lawyers, usually delivering services to clients at a distance using technological means of communication. Most have a central function responsible for the accounting and administrative side of the practice. Virtual law firms are formed and regulated in the same way as traditional law firms, but their lawyers may be self-employed consultants rather than partners or employees.

In a profession know historically resistant to change. The concept of a virtual law firm sounds mystical or fake, the idea of altering the way business is done can be difficult for some Orthodox Lawyers to swallow. Peeling away the layers, however, reveals that there is nothing Mythical or Fake about a virtual law firm. It is simply a fancy way of labeling two or more lawyers who collaborate and recognize that innovation should play a role in serving clients. If client expectations change, law firm models should follow. Virtual Law Practices have emerged in various iterations, each of which is driven by the practice’s client base. The models range from solo practitioners delivering services online to large firms operating outside a traditional bricks-and-mortar setting. The concepts are limited only by the creativity of those involved.

The main benefit of a virtual law office to the client is convenience and accessibility to the lawyer. The unbundled legal services of a Virtual Law Office can also save clients a considerable amount of money by allowing them to handle much of the work surrounding their legal consultation themselves, with an attorney guiding them and drafting paperwork (known as “unbundling”) In turn, an attorney running a Virtual Law Office will have more flexible work hours and be able to serve a much larger client base over the internet. They will also save significant overhead related to running a practice (such as office rent, paper, and assisting staff). With the rapid expansion of technology and internet use, lawyers who are able to bend their practice to serve this client base may find themselves more successful.

According to earlier sources, a virtual law firm has the following characteristics:

Has a stable core group of attorneys;
Operates under one legal entity, such as a partnership or a proprietorship.
Has established collaborative relationships with other, specialized law firms that possess expertise that’s occasionally needed;
Is glued together with appropriate computer and telecommunications technology such as project management software or a Virtual Law Office (VLO)
Tends to have low overhead because of the ability of some or all attorneys to work from home or a low cost remote office.
Expands and reduces personnel as needed.

Virtual firms can be full service and handle the entire range of existing practice areas, from estate planning to criminal defense to business matters such as mergers and acquisitions and complex litigation. From the client’s perspective, the work product completed does not look different than that produced by a traditional firm. It is how the firm operates in the background that differs. This is where setting up the right structure and team is crucial.

Multi-lawyer firms can now practice in a distributed manner. The firms have centralized meeting space for attorney or client meetings, but the lawyers practice from home or in other locations that make the most sense to each lawyer. Virtual assistants are used for administrative support. Cloud-based practice management systems enable the lawyers to collaborate on cases and to have all information related to the matter at their fingertips—whether they are at a home office or traveling on the other side of the world.

The advent of technology used in virtual law firms such as project management software, Virtual Law Offices and cloud computing have made it far easier for legal practices to save and manage data across geographic locations securely and efficiently and to communicate with clients at a distance, so that proximity to the client, or of the lawyers to each other in an office, has become far less important.

The virtual law firm has also come to be associated with lower prices, as they generally operate with lower overheads than traditional law firms. Lawyers find they can bill fewer hours but still make more money via a virtual firm because of the lower overheads.

e-Lawyering and the Virtual Law Office

The first recorded virtual law firm was "Woolley & Co" set up in 1996 in England by Andrew Woolley. The term became more clearly defined in 2004 in an article written by Joe Kashi defining exactly what it meant to be a virtual law firm. Virtual law firms are also often referred to as “cloud-based law firms”. The concept has since spread globally and is finding favour with clients seeking higher quality service, value, and mobility.

More recently, the concept of the virtual law firm has been associated with the term, "e-Lawyering" referring to a law firm that delivers legal services online, either directly to consumers through their law firm websites or through legal matching platforms. The American Bar Association has released a statement on minimum requirements for law firms delivering legal service online. The guidelines equate the concept of "e-Lawyering" with the Virtual Practice of Law and the concept of the virtual law firm. According to the American Bar Association guidelines, e-Lawyering or Virtual Law Practice refers specifically to the delivery of legal services online through a section of a law firm's website that is a known as a secure "client portal." Under this definition, a "Virtual Law Firm" is not simply a lawyer who does not have a physical office and communicates with clients by email. Instead, the law firm must have a secure section of its website where a client can log in with a unique user name and password.

The purpose of the e-Lawyering Task Force minimum requirements is to provide guidance to attorneys who wish to deliver legal services online on how to comply with the professional rules of conduct that govern law practice in each U.S. state. Conducting business through a log-in portal is different from conducting business over email, as the log-in portal is required to be secure and must adhere to strict regulations and standards. A completely virtual law office will conduct all business online, while some small practices choose to integrate a Virtual Law Office log-in portal to provide more options to their clients.

The features offered by a Virtual Law Office depend on the particular vendor, but basic features centre around a securely hosted, web-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) application that stores documents as part of a cloud computing system. By storing documents and information on an external server and allowing log-in through a secure, encrypted portal, documents can be accessed and shared by client and attorney. A Virtual Law Office allows clients and their attorneys to message and communicate securely, schedule appointments online, and upload and download documents. Attorneys running a Virtual Law Office can also sync their firm’s calendars, sell documents online, and use a “virtual receptionist” service to handle administrative tasks. Attorneys also save on paper and printing costs by providing documents online, and both parties can access the Virtual Law Office portal at any time of day.

OlayinkaOyelamiVirtualLawPractice is a leading provider of integrated information solutions to the global legal market, for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. We have a long year history as an innovator in the legal field and our products are considered to be the world standard for supporting the business and practice of law. We offer a powerful competitive advantage to our customers by providing authoritative resources, tools, and services.

With over 500 do-it-yourself legal products, the largest library of online consumer-friendly legal products including: power of attorney, wills, living trusts, leases, promissory notes, and America’s #1 bestselling estate planning software Quicken Will-Maker Plus. Our vision is simple, yet powerful to give our customers smarter ways to work by providing unrivaled legal solutions that integrate content, expertise and technologies. We've built a portfolio of products that span practice and management for litigators, corporate counsel, business lawyers, government legal professionals and small law firm attorneys – legal solutions built to help our customers thrive. Get more insights here

OlayinkaOyelamiVirtualLawPractice is a global digital legal services firm...a legal subsidiary of OlayinkaOyelamiCorporation (OOCORP) We are leading online legal document preparation service providers with affiliate partners using web-based technology to work with online clients offering small business owners a fast, easy, and economical way to form a corporation, limited liability company (LLC), or other business structure online or by phone.

What is The Biggest Reason While Law Firms Fails ?

2016-11-14T01:01:00.000-08:00

Every single year law firms close up offices and send lawyers scrambling in search of new jobs. As you navigates the trials and tribulations of the industry, get insights into the common reasons why law firms failed so you can protect yourself against falling victim to this reality. Fighting Between Partners Good lawyers are tough fighters with strong opinions. That is what makes them good at what they do. However, when those lawyers start fighting among themselves while trying to run a law firm, the law firm will likely fail. If your firm’s owners are fighting, you must use your mediation skills to come to an agreement Too Many Partners, Not Enough Associates Too many heads and not enough feet can lead to the death of a law firm. There are some law firms where up to two-thirds of the lawyers are partners! This does not work well. It’s very unlikely that all of these partners are contributing to the company’s bottom line. Everyone needs to be productive and carry their weight, whether they are new associates or senior partners. Failure to Focus on Clients The most important person in your law firm is not you, your partner, or your lead lawyer. It’s your client. If your law firm is all about you and your partners, then your clients are going to start looking for services elsewhere. Put your clients’ needs first, and watch as your reputation and client base improve. Internal Orientation A law firm will struggle if it focuses too much on inner workings and neglects client services. Your procedures and policies will not matter if you have no clients. Point your focus outward and build a strong client base. Refusal to Learn Law school represents a sizeable investment of time and energy. Yet when it’s over, lawyers aren’t done learning. You must take the time to stay current on changes in the law, up-and-coming strategies to win cases, and new management or marketing skills. Leaders in the firm must spearhead the effort and encourage continued growth and development through training, seminars, and other educational opportunities. Hiring Without a Strategy Do you bring enough new associates onboard, and do you hire them with a clear vision of the future? When you hire, exercise due diligence to ensure the new hire fits a specific, long-term need for your firm. As many law firms move forward, they fail to groom successors. When partners are ready to retire, their hard work goes up in smoke when they pass on their firm to a managing partner with no leadership skills. To ensure your firm’s longevity, hire and promote with future leadership in mind. Lack of Focus What is your primary focus? Is it chasing the next big source of revenue? Is it finding a specialty and growing as an expert in the field? If your law firm is constantly switching directions and choosing a new focus or practice area, you will confuse your clients. Instead, take the time to build a consistent practice. Your clients will come to trust your expertise and recognize your unique abilities. Clients “Owned” By Partners If partners work independently of each other with major clients, you run the risk of losing significant income if a partner leaves the firm and takes the clients they “own” with them. To limit this risk, use a team of lawyers for each client. If one chooses to leave, they will be less likely to take the client with them. No Experiments While focus is important, so is experimentation. While your firm develops its primary niche, try some new things. You may discover a new strategy or niche area of practice that is a big revenue generator. No Growth Budget Smart law firms are always planning financially for growth. As your firm delves into a few experiments, you will need funding. Sometimes, these experiments will fail, sometimes they will be even more successful than you had hoped. It’s important to budget for the cost of growing pains Failure to Adapt and Change Law firms that fail to change with the times are going to struggle and probably fail. No firm can last for decades without adapting to the needs of clients, technological advances, and changes in the practice of law. Stay on the forefront of these changes and keep your law firm up to speed in order to succeed. Reliance on a Single Industry or a Small Number of Clients Variety is essential to succeeding as a law firm. While it’s important to focus on a few specialty areas of practice, be sure to choose a niche that has enough clients and demands to support the firm. You may also consider if you need to expand your offerings to include multiple industries to gain a larger number of clients. Don’t depend on one stream of revenue or one small group of clients The Biggest Reason Law Firms Fail: Ineffective Leadership A look at most of these issues points to one overriding problem: a lack of effective leadership. Law firms close every year, and ineffective leadership is typically at the heart of the problem. If you want your law firm to stand the test of time, be willing to make the tough decisions and build a strong leadership team. That, alone, could mean the difference between success and failure in a world where longevity is threatened.

Codes of Coduct and Admission Into Nigerian Law School Externship Programme

2016-11-10T03:43:00.002-08:00

The Council of Legal Education (CLE) is the only body entitled or legally empowered to prescribe conditions or additional pre-conditions for admission into the Nigerian Law School. Section 1 (1) of the Legal Education (Consolidation) Act, 1976 establishes the CLE (Council of Legal Education) as a body corporate”with perpetual succession and a common seal.” Section 1 (2) then provides that it (the CLE) “shall have responsibility for the legal education of persons seeking to become members of the legal profession” in Nigeria. Note also that the CLE has the responsibility of continuing legal education in Nigeria (under section 3).

The Nigerian Law school is the final coaching ground for all who intends to be a lawyer before they are finally called to the bar. All over the world the legal profession is widely seen and regarded as one of the noblest profession in the history of mankind. Law being one of the most dignifying and prestigious course to study in the world alongside with Medicine and Engineering most parents secretly or openly wants to have one in the family.

As the saying goes “Nothing good comes easy”, so it is in wanting to be a lawyer. To qualify as one in Nigeria, you must first of all obtain a law degree which must take you five years or more depending on certain factors like internal or external strikes or crisis seen in most higher institution in Nigeria.

Then when you are done with the battle, you will have to be admitted into the Nigerian Law School (NLS), which comprises of 6 campuses, namely: Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Kano ,Bayelsa, and Yola. All these campuses are headed by the Deputy Director-Generals.
The NLS grades her students final performance using first class, second class, pass, conditional pass and fail. The method of grading is of very peculiar in nature, in the sense that a student is graded based on his/her lowest grade in any of the courses. This simply means that if a student takes 5 courses and gets 4 As and 1C, such student automatically gets a pass grade regardless of the other As he had in other courses.

NLS, is of two parts , the Bar part 1, which is designed for those who obtained their law degrees abroad (ie foreign students), the following courses are offered in this part 1;Nigerian Legal System, Nigerian Land Law, Constitutional Law and Criminal Law. While the Bar Part II is made for both the local and foreign students. The Bar Part 1 comes before the Bar Part II. Courses for Bar part II include: Civil Procedure Law, Company Law and Commercial Practice, Law Office Management and General paper, Professional Ethics, Drafting and Conveyancing and Legal Practitioners Account.

The NLS requires much preparations, determination, focus and dedication for you to scale through. It is not a place of jamboree. Especially if you want to be hired by a top law firm, you must strive to come out with a good grade like first class or second class. Though most law firm are not after the grade, all they are interested is for you to be called to the Bar, the choice is yours.

As a law student who wants to excel in law school, you must keep to this CODE OF CONDUCT

The Legal Profession is an honorable profession and all who belong or aspire to it must exhibit that trait and strength of character. Good character is most crucial for admission to the Law School and subsequently to the Bar. The Council of Legal Education, conscious of its responsibility for the Legal Education of persons seeking to become members of the Legal Profession, and in conjunction with the Body of Benchers, responsible for regulating the practice of the in Nigeria i.e. to train for the profession disciplined gentlemen of honour, approved a code of conduct for the information and compliance of Law Students who intend to seek admission into the Nigerian Law School, qualify for the Bar, and subsequently enroll as Legal Practitioners in Nigeria.

1.0 A Law Student must be honest and of good behavior. He/She should be a responsible and reliable person.

2.0 DRESSING: All students must be well dressed at all times in Regulation Wear.

3.0 MALE: Dark suit, white shirt, black tie (not bow tie), white breast pocket handkerchief, black socks and black shoes (Sandals are not allowed). During hot weather, male students may be permitted to wear white long sleeve shirts with black tie, black trousers (charcoal grey may be allowed) and black shoes to class.

4.0 FEMALE: Dark gown or dark suit, white blouse, black skirt covering the knees and black covered shoes. (Sandals are not allowed) There should be no embroidery and or trimmings of any type on the gown, suit or blouse; and only moderate jewelry should be worn- (No large dangling or coloured earrings, or bracelets are allowed). Also, glitters or colouring of any type in the hair is prohibited. During hot weather, female students may be permitted to wear white translucent blouses (not tee-shirt), black skirts covering the knee (charcoal grey may be permitted) and black covered shoes to the class.

5.0 ALL Gowns and Skirts –

(a) Must be graceful, but not cling provocatively to the body;
(b) Must not be above the knee; and
(c) Must not have high slits (i.e. above the knee)

6.0 ALL Blouses or Shirts –
(a) Must be graceful, but not cling provocatively to the body;
(b) Must not expose sensitive parts of the body i.e. it must not expose your cleavage, upper arm stomach and/or navel.

• The above mode of dress is mandatory for both male and female Students for attending lectures and other extra Curricula activities, and for attendance at Magistrate Courts and all Superior Courts.

7.0 ATTENDANCE AT LAW SCHOOL:
Attendance at Lectures and other programmes of the school is compulsory. All lecture Attendance is taken using the THUMB PRINT DEVICES placed at both entrances of the Auditorium. The Morning Attendance is from 7.00a.m. – 9.00 a.m., while the Afternoon Attendance is immediately after the last lecture for the day.

8.0 PUNCTUALITY:
Students must be punctual for Lectures which start by 9.00a.m. All students are expected to thumb print before entering the Lecture Hall in the morning and also at the end of the last lecture for the day. In case a student has to be absent from school, a written application with necessary evidence stating the reason and number of days to be away from school should be forwarded to management, and approval must be secured before proceeding. Applications submitted after proceeding on leave will not be attended to, except emergency ca cases, and the application must be accompanied with a Medical Report.

9.0 LECTURE HALLS:
All students must enter and leave the Lecture Halls/Auditorium by the main door. Smoking, Eating and Drinking of any kind are strictly prohibited in the Auditorium and other Lecture Halls.

10.0 MOBILE PHONES:
Use of GSM and other Mobile Phones are not allowed in the Auditorium, Lecture Halls, Library, at Dinners and at all other formal events. Phones used in these places will be confiscated.

11.0 DECORUM:
This must be adhered to at all times, even when in disagreement with a staff or colleague.

12.0 LAW DINNERS:
Students must be punctual for Law Dinners and must be in Regulation Wear and observe table manners.

13.0 MATERNITY LEAVE
The school does not grant any type/form of Maternity leave, whether it is Ante natal, delivery or Post natal as contained in your Admission Letter and Students Prospectus. In consequence, any student that chooses to be pregnant in the course of the School Year, is not eligible for Maternity Leave.

14.0 EXCURSIONS OR VISITS:
No student or group of students is/are allowed to invite any outsider (individual, government, company, group etc) into the school premises for talks, Seminars lectures, Symposium etc., or pay a courtesy visit to any individual, government, company, groups etc without prior approval from the school authority. Any student or group of students that act in violation of the above may be expelled from school.

NOTE
(1) The Law School Programme is full time and as such, students must not engage in any form of employment or other occupation during their course of study at the Nigerian Law School. This includes periods of interval holidays and during the Externship Programme. Penalty for this is outright termination of studentship.

(2) Please note that there is a compulsory Biometric Data Capturing exercise for all Students. During this exercise, all your facial features, including your ears must be exposed for capturing. This is also applicable to all our female Muslim Students wearing the Hijab.

(3) All complaints should be channeled to any of the following offices for necessary action:

* Deputy Director General’s Office;
* Director of Administration’s Office; or
* Students Affairs Office

(4) Matters of great concern and/or those considered of benefit to the system may be forwarded in writing to the Deputy Director General or Director of Administration, when they are not available to grant immediate audience

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Codes of Coduct and Admission Into Nigerian Law School Externship Programme

2016-11-10T03:43:00.001-08:00

Marriage Rights and Benefits - Learn some of the legal and practical ways that getting married changes your life.

2016-09-06T03:58:00.002-07:00

Whether or not you favor marriage as a social institution, there's no denying that it confers many rights, protections, and benefits--both legal and practical. Some of these vary from state to state, but the list typically includes:

Tax Benefits

Filing joint income tax returns with the IRS and state taxing authorities.
Creating a "family partnership" under federal tax laws, which allows you to divide business income among family members.

Estate Planning Benefits

Inheriting a share of your spouse's estate.
Receiving an exemption from both estate taxes and gift taxes for all property you give or leave to your spouse.
Creating life estate trusts that are restricted to married couples, including QTIP trusts, QDOT trusts and marital deduction trusts.
Obtaining priority if your spouse needs a conservator--that is, someone to make financial or medical decisions on your spouse's behalf.

Government Benefits

Receiving Social Security, Medicare, and disability benefits for spouses.
Receiving veterans' and military benefits for spouses, such as those for education, medical care, or special loans.
Receiving public assistance benefits.

Employment Benefits

Obtaining insurance benefits through a spouse's employer.
Taking family leave to care for your spouse during an illness.
Receiving wages, workers' compensation, and retirement plan benefits for a deceased spouse.
Taking bereavement leave if your spouse or one of your spouse's close relatives dies.

Medical Benefits

Visiting your spouse in a hospital intensive care unit or during restricted visiting hours in other parts of a medical facility.
Making medical decisions if your spouse becomes incapacitated and unable to express wishes for treatment.

Death Benefits

Consenting to after-death examinations and procedures.
Making burial or other final arrangements.

Family Benefits

Filing for stepparent or joint adoption.
Applying for joint foster care rights.
Receivin a share of marital property if you divorce.
Receiving spousal or child support, child custody, and visitation if you divorce.

Housing Benefits

Living in neighborhoods zoned for "families only."
Automatically renewing leases signed by your spouse.

Consumer Benefits

Receiving family rates for health, homeowners', auto, and other types of insurance.
Receiving tuition discounts and permission to use school facilities.
Other consumer discounts and incentives offered only to married couples or families.

Other Legal Benefits and Protections

Suing a third person for wrongful death of your spouse and loss of consortium (loss of intimacy).
Suing a third person for offenses that interfere with the success of your marriage, such as alienation of affection and criminal conversation (these laws are available in only a few states).
Claiming the marital communications privilege, which means a court can't force you to disclose the contents of confidential communications made between you and your spouse during your marriage.
Receiving crime victims' recovery benefits if your spouse is the victim of a crime.
Obtaining immigration and residency benefits for noncitizen spouse.
Visiting rights in jails and other places where visitors are restricted to immediate family.

Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions, and Domestic Partnerships

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the historic Obergefell case and ruled that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional, and same-sex couples can legally marry anywhere in the United States. If you are in a same-sex marriage, your unioin will be legally recognized everywhere in the United States, and you are entitled to all of the same state and federal benefits as opposite-sex married couples.

However, these rules do not apply to unmarried couples that have established either a domestic partnership or civil union. If you are in either of these two marriage-alternative unions, none of the benefits of marriage under federal law will apply to you, because the federal government does not recognize these same-sex relationships. For example, you may not file joint federal income tax returns with your partner, even if your state allows you to file your state tax returns jointly. And other federal benefits, such as Social Security death benefits and COBRA continuation insurance coverage, may not apply.

To learn more about the rights and benefits available to same-sex couples, consult a lawyer with expertise in this area and see Making It Legal:A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Partnerships & Civil Unions, by Frederick Hertz with Emily Doskow (Nolo).

Getting Married?

If you are considering getting married, check out Nolo's free articles on marriage requirements and prenuptial agreements.

Lawyering Smarter With Web-Based Technology – OlayinkaOyelamiCorporation (OOCORP)

2016-08-30T14:01:00.001-07:00

Lawering Smater With Technology explains how ‘increasingly capable systems’ — from telepresence to artificial intelligence — will bring fundamental change in the way that the ‘practical expertise’ of layerss is made available in society. The ‘grand bargain arrangement that grants various monopolies to today’s lawyers that our current justice sytem are antiquated, opaque and no longer affordable, and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few.

Lawyering Smarter With Web-Based Technology – OlayinkaOyelamiCorporation (OOCORP)

Legal process outsourcing, courtroom technology, access to justice, e-learning for lawyers

2016-08-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

This widely acclaimed legal bestseller has provoked a tidal wave of debate within the legal profession, being hailed as an inspiration by some and as heresy by others. Susskind lays down a challenge to all lawyers, and indeed all those in a professional service environment. He urges them to ask themselves, with their hands on their hearts, what elements of their current workload could be undertaken differently - more quickly, cheaply, efficiently, or to a higher quality - using alternative methods of working. The challenge for legal readers is to identify their distinctive skills and talents, the capabilities that they possess that cannot, crudely, be replaced by advanced systems or by less costly workers supported by technology or standard processes, or by lay people armed with online self-help tools.

In the extended new preface to this revised paperback edition, Richard Susskind updates his views on legal process outsourcing, courtroom technology, access to justice, e-learning for lawyers, and the impact of the recession on the practice of law. He analyzes the four main pressures that lawyers now face (to charge less, to work differently, to embrace technology, and to deregulate), and reveals common fallacies associated with each. And, in an entirely new line of thinking, Susskind argues that law firms and in-house departments will have four business models from which to choose in the future, and he provides some new tools and techniques to help lawyers plan for their future.

Susskind argues that the market is increasingly unlikely to tolerate expensive lawyers for tasks (guiding, advising, drafting, researching, problem-solving, and more) that can equally or better be discharged, directly or indirectly, by smart systems and processes. It follows, the book claims, that the jobs of many traditional lawyers will be substantially eroded and often eliminated. Two forces propel the legal profession towards this scenario: a market pull towards commoditisation and a pervasive development and uptake of information technology. At the same time, the book foresees new law jobs emerging which may be highly rewarding, even if very different from those of today.

The End of Lawyers represents a compelling vision of the future of the legal profession and a must-read for all lawyers. Indeed this book should be read by all those whose work touches on the law, and it offers much food for thought for anyone working in a professional environment. Read more...OlayinkaOyelamiCorporation (OOCORP) – …Insights into global business building strategies

What is wrong with studying law by part-time, distance learning or correspondence studies?

2016-08-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Following the ban on part-time study of law in Nigerian Universities by the Council of Legal Education (CLE), and Body of Benchers, the controversy over the recognition of the law degree awarded by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) for the purpose of admitting its graduates for vocational studies at the Nigerian Law School, Ogunyiriofo Okoroh in this rejoinder, interrogates involved in this decision and action. He appealed to President Mohammadu Buhari to look into the discrimination meted out to NOUN law graduates by the CLE and Body of Benchers with a view to making it possible for NOUN law graduates to attend the Nigerian Law School.

In the public notice published in the Guardian of Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Council of Legal Education and Body of Benchers informed the general public that "the Council of Legal Education again announces for the benefit of the general public, that the LLB. Hons. Degree Programme offered by the National Open University of Nigeria is not approved". p.34. The position of the statutory bodies - the Council of Legal Education and the Body of Benchers is as follows:

-The study of law must be undertaken on full time basis, in recognised institutions for the provision of undergraduate studies" - The regulatory bodies have long proscribed the study of law through Part-time, Distance Learning, or Correspondence Studies and it was in consequence of this, that the Part-time LL B. programme run by the Faculties of Law of accredited Universities were abrogated"

- That every aspirant for the Legal Profession must undertake an undergraduate study on full time basis, in a recognised Faculty of Law. This is because the study of law transcends knowledge acquisition alone, as it involves the molding of future entrants to the Bar in learning, character and attitude.

In another advert in the same paper on the same date, titled: application for Bar part 1 course, Council of Legal Education announced among other things, the admission requirement

- "The programme is open to law graduates of approved oversees Universities or Law Schools whose law courses have been approved by the Council of Legal Education. Degrees obtained through long distance learning or study as an external student are not recognized for the admission to this programme"

In an interview on 'why Council of Legal Education may not admit Open University graduates to Law School' granted to Joseph Onyekwere, by the Chairman, Council of Legal Education Chief O. C. J. Okocha, published in The Guardian, Tuesday, 31 December 31, 2013, he gave some reasons why law graduates of National Open University may not be admitted to the Law School.

This interview is of interest to the public. It is the intention of this writer to analyse the issues raised by Council of Legal Education, CLE and Body of Benchers, BB and critically react to them.

But before going to these, we may have some brief ideas about NOUN, CLE and BB. Brief on NOUN NOUN is a Federal University established by Statute during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. It has Study Centres in all the states.

The Faculty of Law admits professionals, degree holders, higher degree holders and qualified none degree holders.

Each admitted student must have the basic requirement for admission to any Law Faculty in any University and must study for a minimum of five years to pass the legal compulsory and elective courses of not less than 200 credits to graduate.

The University is accredited by the National University Commission (NUC).

Council of Legal Education, CLE Nigerian Legal Education Act was established in 1962 to regulate the General Council. CLE is a supervisory body established by statute and responsible for the accreditation, control and management of legal education in Nigeria.

It runsthe Nigerian Law School, a vocational institution responsible for the training of prospective legal practitioners in Nigeria. It has a Chairman. Body of Benchers Body of Benchers was established by the Legal Practitioners Act.

The Body regulates the activities and conduct of members of the legal profession. It does this with the General Council of the Bar.

We shall analyse and critically react to the issues raised by CLE and BB. Study of law on full time On the issue that the study of law must be undertaken on full time basis, the pertinent question is

- why this policy?

This same question has been raise by journalists, newspaper columnists, some editorial, even some University law teachers without any response from CLE and BB.

The Law School is statutorily established in the interest of Nigerians and the management derives its statutory authority from the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, Section 14 as amended, states

1. "The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice".

2 "It is hereby, accordingly declared that a sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this constitution derives all its powers and authority".

Given the above constitutional provisions, one would think that the people of Nigeria, some of whose children are admitted to NOUN Faculty of Law, deserve to know why their children should not be admitted to the Law School after spending huge sums of money on their education and after the children have successfully passed their L.L.B law degree.

It is difficult to appraise the policy objectively without CLE and BB telling the Nation the reason for the decision, in a democratic nation.

Proscription of study of law through part-time, Distance Learning, or Correspondence Studies As a matter of fact, NOUN law students are given scheduled law lectures by some law lecturers from University Faculty of Law close to the State Center.

Some practicing lawyers also lecture NOUN law students. Hence, the issue of part-time, distance learning or correspondence studies does not strictly arise.

Even then, what is wrong with studying law by part-time, distance learning or correspondence studies? Only a self disciplined, intelligent student can study by any of these options and pass creditably. Learn about Challenge to all lawyers, and indeed all those in a professional service environment with their hands on their hearts, and ask themselves what elements of their current workload could be undertaken differently - more quickly, cheaply, efficiently, or to a higher quality - using alternative methods of working. Read more...

The reason is that under any of these programmes there is no "sorting," "miracle center," "advance," or "greasing of palm," to pass any of the examinations. The law student at NOUN does not know the marker of examination scripts, can not ask the computer for any favour during elective course examination.

Examinations are taken under very strict supervision, with even law enforcement agents monitoring the environment of the examination center. Any individual caught cheating faces serious disciplinary measures. Nevertheless, it is, indeed, very sad to reflect on the fact that Nigeria where history has little or no meaning.

History is no long taught to Nigerian children in school. In very few tertiary institutions where it is taught, it is given a disguised name to attract students, who are usually very few in number.

The advanced nations do not gamble with their history. The Voice of America has a daily programme - "Today in history".

History not only reveals the past, it guides the future. It creates legends which the children model or emulate. It prepares the future for new generation. Even though history has little or no meaning in Nigeria, it does not appear that the distinguished members of CLE and BB have forgotten too soon that many of the prominent lawyers whose names ring bell presently in Nigeria and beyond, and did the same in the past, both at the Bar and Bench, either studied by part-time, distance learning or correspondence course.

A good number of them passed their O'Level, A'Level, University of London degrees, including L.L.B law degrees by these programmes.

What is part-time programme?

Part-time: World over, Part-time study has provided relief to indigent students who have to work and study. A person who consciously studies on his own, straining to pay the school fees, purchase materials that should assist him in acquiring the relevant knowledge, does not merely read to pass the requisite examination, but to acquired the relevant knowledge, skill and understanding for personal development, material and intellectual uplift in life. Part-time study involves utmost sacrifice and personal commitment to succeed in life struggle. It demands unalloyed discipline, which is self control from frivolities and external distractions.

The Full-time counterpart enjoys the luxury of teaching, in some cases may be persuaded, distracted or tempted by the option of "sorting," spying for "miracle centers," colluding with some unscrupulous clerical staff to obtain examination questions, in an institution where there is laxity.

Some students may cram or memorise, without understanding, to satisfy the teacher who may demand - "give me back what I give you". "Pinging," "partying," "chatting," "discussing past questions" for the purpose of passing examinations may constitute some distractions to some class-room students who are not serious with their study.

The Part-time student has limited time - he has to work, study, take care of his welfare and pay for all these. He therefore has to deny himself so many things to succeed. Many have indeed succeeded by Part-time and have gained enviable positions in society, world-wide.

Let us respectfully consider some eminent Nigerians who have succeeded by part-time studies.

One of the prominent Nigerians who has gone through the rigours of Part-time study, emerged in flying colours and has occupied the position of a legal star is the constitutional lawyer, Barrister-at-law, Inner Temple, London, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Commander of Order of the Niger, Nigerian National Order of Merit, former Minister of Education and Youth Development, fellow of many Tertiary Institutions; Chairman, The Patriots, Doctor of Law, the second since the death of Dr T. O. Elias; the only Nigerian and African holder of a Higher Doctorate Degreein Law of the University of London by published works - the three 'isms' - Constitutionalism, -Presidentialism and Judicialism, translated into many European languages, is no other person than Professor Obi Nwabueze. By Part-time study, Obi Nwabueze passed four subjects in G.C.E Advanced level while working as a clerk in government establishment. With this qualification he gained admission to study Law in University of London.

There are so many all over the world who have passed their O'Level, A'Level, degrees, even degrees in Law, by Part-time. There was another honourable who was a Minister at the Temple of Justice - Justice Joseph Jeremiah Umoren. "When he arrived England as a self funded student, he had to work and go to school". While in London he attended the famous University of London between 1964 and 1967 by Part-time. He passed creditably and was called to the English Bar and later Nigerian Bar. Umeren: Exit of a Consumate Jurist. The Guardian Tuesday April 29, 2014 p. 80.

What of those who studied as external students? External Student: Another Icon was Honourable Justice Abdul Fatayi Demola Kuti, retired Judge of Abuja High Court, who was considered one of the known incorruptible judges Nigeria has produced. He was an external student of University of London in 1958 after which he did his L.L.B.Law examination and passed with honours. He was called to Bar both in London and later in Nigeria. He served the nation diligently and responsibly.

Due respect must equally be accorded to Justice Michael Adeyinka Odesanya whose taste for knowledge was so high that he was among four Nigerian students who passed intermediate Bachelor of Art Degree in Law as external students during the Second World War, 1939-1945. Later, he became the second General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association in Lagos Branch

Another, among the four was revered T. O. Elias. He had five degrees before he was called to Bar. In addition he had two Doctorate Degrees. He later became a Professor of Law, Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Justice of Nigeria, the first African and black man to head the International Court of Justice at the Hague.

The third in the count was Dr. G. B. A. Coker who retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The fourth, but by no means the least, was Chief N. N. A. Okafor who was the pioneer General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association at its inception in 1959.

Again, regards must be accorded to Justice Emmanuel Ayoola (JSC) rtd who served at the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. He studied as external student of the University of London between 1953 and 1957. He distinguished himself by passing his L.L.B. Law degree and his English Bar final the same year. He was admitted to the English Bar at Lincoln' Inn on November 25 1958. He later enrolled as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on Friday September 1959. He was appointed Justice of Court of Appeal of Gambia and later Chief Justice of Gambia. On leaving Gambia, he was, the same year, made Justice of Seychelles Court of Appeal. He was later elevated the President of the Court.

While on foreign service, Justice Ayoola performed as Justice of Nigerian Court of Appeal. He was later promoted to the Supreme Court of Justice. He was given other prominent assignments.

Abiodun Fanore and Joseph Onyekwere The Guardian Tuesday September 6, 2011.

What of the prominent lawyers who made great leaps to stardom by Correspondence Course?

Correspondence Course:

Due honour must be accorded Chief Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) , referred to as "the Grand Commander of the Legal Profession". He was debarred from attending secondary school because of fund.

As epitome of brilliance, he wrote and passed the then Lokoja-Ondo Diocesan examination for secondary education. He was overall second best pupil. By his excellent performance, he was offered admission to commence studies from form 3 at Christ School, Ado-Ekiti. But he could not make it because of wherewithal.

But he made up his mind to succeed in life through education. He therefore enrolled for correspondence studies. He was successful. He obtained Cambridge School Certificate, G.C.E. Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates of London University, B. Sc Economics of London University and L.L.B. Law with Honours of London University, all by Correspondence or Private Study.

He was called to the Bar in England in 1963 as member of the Lincoln Inn, London, and became a registered member of the Bar of England and Wales. He is considered the most outstanding member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He holds the honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Commander of the Order of the Niger. He is a Fellow of many Instituions; former Pro-Chancellor of University of Lagos. His distinguished achievements in that institution are yet to be rivaled. He was awarded the Best Pro-Chancellor in Nigeria. He has to his credit many works, articles and lectures. He was awarded "Queen Victoria Commemorative Medal" in Oxford, United Kingdon. He was declared "the African Man of the Year" by All African Students Union. His achievements are too numerous to list, a legal luminary of outstanding brilliance. - The Guardian, Tuesday January 24, 2012 p.84.

We shall not fail to list late distinguished Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (JSC) , who at Apex Court was addressed by his colleagues as Socrates and Lord Denning of Nigeria, because of his erudition. He was a man of impeccable character and ingenuity. By Correspondence and Home Study, he worked hard to obtain his B.A. Degree in History from University of London and worked as Assistant District Officer before proceeding to read Law. His first Degree was B.Sc. Degree in Economics from the famous Achimota College in the then Gold Coast, now Ghana. He later studied Law, and was called to Bar and became the first Chief Judge of Imo State. This late Icon later became Supreme Court Justice. He was chairman of the Human Rights Violation Investigation Committee, known as Oputa Panel.

Let us imagine that the English Bar at Lincolns Inn refused to admit the above Nigerians who studied by Part-Time, as External Candidates or by Correspondence Course, and the then Nigerian Law School refused to admit them for Vocational Training, because of their mode of studying, and no other Law School in the world did; the landmark, distinguished contributions these men have made to the nation could have been extinguished for ever. It may not be foolhardy to speculate that there are many Nwabuezes, Ayoolas, Kutis, Odesanyas, Eliases, Cokers, Okafors, Babalolas, Oputas etc who are presently law students of NOUN or who have graduated from NOUN, currently stretching out their hands from the pit of proscription, crying to be liberated from the clutches of relegation; pleading in tears to CLE and BB to admit them into Nigerian Law School to enable them apply their potentials to model their Seniors or even excel them.

The prayer of most African elders is that their children should be greater than they are. However, some people may argue that the legal luminaries that stretch from the 1950s to late 1970s can not be compared with the present generation in terms of having basic educational foundation, commitment and dedication to private reading, self control, high aspiration etc. Hence, they may not feel concerned about NOUN law students. Well, this may be a case of hasty generalization, an imaginative fantasy.

It is not unusual for an old generation to underrate the preceding generation. But the pricking question is whether the previous generation provides the new generation some of the opportunities they were provided.

For instance, do the current elders who presently occupy position of power and authority in education and beyond accord the respect, dignity, welfare benefits they received during their own time to the preceding generation?

This nation accorded the current top policy makers in government - Governors, some former presidents, and their Vice, Pro-Chancellors, Vice Chancellors of Universities, Rectors of Polytechnics, Provosts of Colleges of Education, the Military brass of overseas trainees, so much lavish welfare benefits, luxurious accommodation, scholarships, bursaries, loans, free tuitions etc while they were studying.

Most of them interested in public jobs got them while they were rounding off their studies in the tertiary institutions. What have they and the past governments provided the youths of these days - nothing rather than sufferings due to stinking corruption.

If NOUN had been established in the 1960s would the graduates have been proscribed from attending Law School? Of course, NO; they could have been pampered. However, despite the institutionalized hardship meted to our children by the elders in position of power and authority, there are still children who are naturally brilliant; who, despite odds want to excel, despite the poor family background of a good number of them. In fact there is no community in the world without some talented naturally brilliant children in every generation, who, with small educational opportunity want to catapult themselves to become stars.

But would the elders, the elites in position of power and authority agree to test them to prove their worth?

This is the crucial question.

We may consider one case, that of Rufus Orimoloye, who on his own initiative went to the library of Yaba Technical Institute and came across a book on how to fly an a plane. He read it with enthusiasm and loved it.

Within a few weeks of reading the book he saw an advertisement of the Federal Government of Nigeria asking interested young secondary school certificate holders interested in flying to apply for scholarship to study piloting, Aviation Engineering or Air Traffic Control.

Rufus boasted to his friends - "if they wanted two, I will be one of them".

Yinka Fabowole, Interview Captain Rufus Orimoloye: The sad song of an old pilot. Sunday Sun August 17 2014 p.31 At the scholarship interview Rufus gave very accurate narration of how a plane was flown.

He had neither got close to a plane, nor entered one. He so astonished and impressed the white Pilot who interviewed him that he was the only candidate chosen.

On completing his training he became one of the first set of indigenous Nigerian pilots that took over from all white personnel pilots.

He rendered selfless commendable service to the Nation as a pilot. Let us imagine that there is such advert currently, because of the overwhelming number that may apply, the most likely people that may be considered first are those whose parents are in top government positions and the political big wigs in Nigeria.

Next to be considered may be those with recommendations from the Senators and House of Representatives, Governors, State Legislators etc.

If a person like Rufus were to attend the interview today without a'god Father,' and no "big shot" to recommend him, what he read in the library would havehad no meaning. Nigeria would have lost a diligent pilot. There are many Rufuses in Nigeria today who neither have the opportunity to be seen nor heard.

Incidentally, our ancient elders frown at those who cross the bridge and allow the bridge to collapse.

We may now give some consideration to the proscription of the study of law through Part-time by CLE and BB.

Proscription of the Study of Law through Part-time That the Part-time, Distance learning or Correspondence Course run by Faculty of Law of accredited Universities were abrogated is no cogent reason to abrogate the NOUN programme, which, strictly speaking is quite unique.

In the first instance, CLE and BB have not given any cogent reason for abrogating the programmes run by accredited Law Faculties.

It has to be remembered that Part-time Legal Education was first introduced in Nigeria by the first indigenous Nigerian University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It was popular among the working people. Many graduated before it was proscribed.

There has been no known adverse report about the legal performance of those who were admitted to the Law School on graduation.

Many Nigerians have continued to ask why CLE and BB cancelled the programme.

A renowned law teacher and senior member of the Bar, Professor Uche U. Uche in an interview with Joseph Onyekwere on the cancellation of Part-time law degree programme stated

"I don't see anything wrong with that part-time, provided they are going to comply with those requirements of law in terms of its strictness, its accuracy, and total independence".

Joseph Onyekwere The Guardian, Tuesday, June 19 2012 p.81. In another interview with Bertram Nwannekama, on Part-time Law Studies, Olisakwe Amadi stated: "the part-time law programme was not cancelled by the Law Faculties of Universities. It was cancelled by Council of Legal Education, for whatever reason, I do not know. But personally, I support the programme.

The part-time legal education was really very beneficial to Nigerians, especially for those who were working and wanted to have knowledge of the law. Apart from that, I will like everybody to have knowledge of the law, because if we have more people that have knowledge of the law, there will be less cheating in our society. It will afford people the opportunity of knowing their rights and privileges in our society".

Bertram Nwannekanma A Vote for Part-Time Law Studies The Guardian Tuesday May 5 p.70.

The question continues to be asked - why the fiat that the study of law must be on full time basis?

Undergraduate Study of law on full time basis The fiat on the study of law on full time basis, according to CLE and BB is that "the study of law transcends knowledge acquisition alone as it involves the moulding the future entrants to the Bar in learning, character and attitude".

Why must the fiat be peculiar to Nigeria?

It is a known fact that most Common Law countries of the world have established Open University System that has functioning Faculties of Law.

A good number of them have established Universities that encourage part-time learning in many faculties including law.

The advent of computer and internet facilities enhance wider range of educational opportunities for their citizens.

Is Nigeria more advanced that these nations?

The answer is NO;

The illiteracy level in Nigeria is still shamefully very high.

In the interview Professor Peter Crisp of BPP University London granted to Joseph Onyekwere, he said there is Open University in United Kingdom that runs law degree programme for 3 years, after which the student does qualifying law degree which warrants the student on success, to do vocational programme at law school to become a solicitor or barrister, depending on one's choice.

Though, according to him, the distinction is being blurred. Joseph Onyekwere, the Distinction between Barristers and Solicitors Getting blurred in United Kingdom, says Scholar Crisp The Guardian Tuesday, March 3 2015 p.49.

But what are the implications of the fiat?

One implication is that those who study law in Council accredited Nigerian Universities must sit in class and be taught by teachers.

This position shuts off the use of modern advanced technology for distance learning of law.

It also shuts off indigent students who are brilliant but their parents can not afford the resources for them to study law as full time students.

If first class Universities in the world, where the level of legal consciousness and literacy are high, allow this programme why should CLE and BB ban it in Nigeria?

This requires answer.

Another implication could be that CLE and BB may, perhaps, consider the current Nigerian students in NOUN so daft that they think that after passing the L.L.B Law they may not be able to scale through the vocational training at the Law School.

But this supposed position is unilateral, underrating, unscientific without any formal test at the Law School for substantive evidence. Again, that supposed position appears to be a mystification of the Law School.

There are records of those who were taught law in class and many could not scale through the Law School examination.

A top officer of the Law School complained that the reason for the large number of failure was because the candidates concerned themselves with past questions instead of reading their books.

Yet another implication could be that the law elites may intend to shield law for the rich who can afford full time study of law in the Universities.

In Daily Sun Editorial of Wednesday, May 6, 2015 on 'Non-recognition of Open University's Law Programme,' states among other things - "while we appreciate the resolve of regulators of the law profession to enforce the best standards possible, we caution that such initiatives must be tempered with a human face.

The legal profession should not also be made Exclusive Club from which certain categories of persons are restricted, even when they are able to meet up with its academic requirements".

The most likely outstanding implication is that the CLE and BB want to castrate the Law Faculty of NOUN. By this they may want to make the L.L.B. graduates of NOUN to be bats that are neither on the ground nor in space, but hanging aimlessly and hopelessly.

Unlike the United Kingdom where the solicitor and advocate, each has a distinct role to play in society, though the distinction is presently "being blurred". In Nigeria, a lawyer barred from Law School is a frustrated human being. It is only by attending Law School that a lawyer becomes a solicitor and advocate.

Where Nigeria turns out thousands of law graduates, spread across the nation, who know the law but are frustrated from practicing it by denying them admission to Law School as provided by law, the nation is danger.

It was the belief of Nigerian pioneer legal practitioners that "a lawyer lives for the direction of his country," but where there is elitist frustration along the line of becoming a fulfilled barrister, the outcome thereafter may be unpredictable.

When a lawyer is successfully enrolled as solicitor and advocate he becomes ethically accountable to the Nigerian Bar Association and the nation. When he is unaccountable because he is not properly enrolled, anything goes, to survive.

A humane nation does not gamble with the educational career and prospects of its citizens because education is the most fundamental method of survival open to the poor and the rich. If it is denied the poor chaos is cultured.

There is this wise saying that if you train a group of people as welders and they do not have jobs, they may use their skills to aid the breaking of Banks.

But what do the CLE and BB mean by declaring that "the study of law transcends knowledge alone, as it involves the moulding of future entrants to the Bar in learning, character and attitude"?
Study of Law Transcends Knowledge alone In relation to NOUN, would this imply that NOUN law students only acquire mere knowledge, and not legal knowledge, and does not go beyond this?

Fundamentally, every law student is expected to have knowledge of substantive laws and their application to classified facts. He should know the legal and judicial procedures and other requirements.

The nation has to be convinced by CLE and BB that there is deficiency in NOUN legal curriculum to warrant proscription. So far, these Bodies have neither publicly criticized the legal curriculum of NOUN nor the standard of examination questions set, or its method of administration.

The criticism has been on CORRESPONDENC, CORRESPONDENCE AND CORRESPONDENCE alone; nothing more.

Concerning the idea of moulding future entrants to the Bar in learning, character and attitude, it has to be stated that "moulding" supposes a fixed pattern - in the same image and structure; just as when cement is mixed with sand and water, the mould produces a fixed structure and pattern of block.

It has to be acknowledged that no educational system moulds learners in the same pattern. Education disposed the learner to acquire knowledge, skill, understanding etc, according to each learner's ability and intellectual potential. This is why in academic evaluation or examination assessment, there is standard deviation - a few examinees are likely to fail, majority are likely to have the middle percentage score, while a few would score the highest percentage. This is true of law and any other discipline.

If CLE and BB were to mould future entrants to the Bar in learning, character and attitude, the outcome would be the same.

In reality, there are very intelligent lawyers who argue their cases in court such that the judge is so highly impressed that he may call them privately at the chamber to congratulate them.

There are those who shun the court and live by rent collection.

There are those who dare the court, and in their legal procedure and arguments embarrass the judge.

If eventually these characterizations hold, where does the mould function?

Who mixes and moulds?

Thus, no educational institution, faculty, profession or discipline can in reality mould its future entrants in learning, character and attitude.

No matter what form of teaching is adopted in a class, some of the learner may, by discovery method, through wide reading or experimentation, learn more than others and therefore excel.

Others may be lazy, depend on notes and earn bare pass, some may fail outright.

Teaching may influence or stimulate character and attitude formation according to individual reception, but not in absolute mould pattern, otherwise, the principle of individual difference in life and education would be erased from human nature.

The learner who reads on his own and succeeds has already exerted self control on himself. As a practicing lawyer, he is very likely to devote enough time and concentration to research in order to prepare his case and present a solid argument in court.

This is a case of 'transfer of learning'. Learning is indicated by change in behavior. Whether one exposed to knowledge, skill, understanding etc has truly learnt, is indicated by change in behavior which can be verified by quantifiable aptitude, oral, written, practical or any other test.

A good number of Nigerians have appealed to CLE and BB to allow NOUN L.L.B. law graduates to attend Law School where they can be evaluated as having learned or otherwise.

In advanced nations verification is a scientific method of testing belief, for acceptance or rejection. Nigeria should be part of the world globalization in science and technology.

It is also note-worthy that a good number of the professionals who passed out of NOUN Faculty of Law were degree holders before studying law.

During their convocation before studying law, the Vice-Chancellor of their Alma Mata declared them to be worthy in learning and character.

Vice-Chancellor of NOUN in their convocation also declared the successful law student worthy in learning and character.

Character has to do with human qualities. One wonders whether CLE and BB designed courses in law that teach character which transcends knowledge.

The Advanced Learners Dictionary 5th Edition p.186 defines character as "all mental or moral qualities that make a person, group, nation etc different from others". A person's character formation begins with experiences from home, extends to the school, tertiary institution and interaction with general public.

Families and educational institutions can not be the same and therefore can not promote same character. Among professionals, the mental orientations which qualify members of the profession is acquired by the knowledge exposure in the discipline. The professional, through knowledge content is disposed to 'knowing that' and 'knowing how'.

'Knowing that' in law has to do with theoretical knowledge suchas knowledge of substantive laws, jurisprudence and legal theory etc; 'knowing how' in law refers, for instance, skillful application of the content of law in problem solving, such as legal drafting, judicial procedure, conveyance, alternative dispute resolution etc. In the process of acquiring the knowledge of law the conscious learner has the disposition to some attitude of the profession such as integrity, incorruptibility, transparency, inspirational confidence, taking judicial and legal assignments seriously, respect for due process, upholding justice, rule of law etc.

These are demonstrated in moot court proceeding in which moot cases are tried. In this respect, a professional lawyer is the surrogate judge.

The CLE and BB have to prove to the nation that students of NOUN are not disposed to these. The fact there is no Faculty of Law of a University that does not inculcate professional character among its students.

At convocation the Vice-Chancellor usually declares those to be awarded degrees to have been found worthy in learning, character and training.

Why would it be supposed that NOUN law students are exceptions to these virtues?

In the case of the University of Ilorin student v University of Ilorin 2014 the defendant was not satisfied with the trial court and Court of Appeal , and proceeded to the Supreme Court.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, stating among other things that "the Appellant in other words gave with the right hand and took back with the left, a visitation on a student which ought not to be associated with the University or Ivory Tower as colloquially called or citadel of learning and character formation". Law Report:

Court will not usurp functions of a University Senate, but where it errs, judiciary can intervene. Guardian Tuesday, September 23, 2014 p.63. Thus there is no University that is not concerned with the character formation of the admitted learners. Again, what attitude has CLE and BB found in accredited Faculties of Law of Nigerian Universities that is lacking in NOUN Faculty of Law?

What is attitude?

The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines attitude as a way of thinking about something or somebody or behaving towards somebody or something p.66. For instance, some people have favourable attitude to eating rice as the best food. Some people have negative attitude to some ethnic groups because of some stories heard about them.

When it come to education, every professional discipline has the disposition of stimulating its students to certain ways of thinking and perceiving in the processes of acquiring knowledge, skill and understanding, from which the students learn. For instance, in the process of scientific inquiry, science exposes its students to the attitude of formulating hypothesis as the foundation of scientific inquiry, experimentation, quantification, verification etc. by the process of induction - from particular to general, ie theorizing.

On the other hand, philosophy as a discipline stimulates its learners to acquire the attitude of intellectual pursuit, critical thinking, reasonable doubt, argument, questioning, generalistion by deduction, from general to particular. Importantly, it cultivates the attitude of humility and submission to rule of law as exemplified by Socrates, the Greek philosopher. Of course, law stimulates its learners to form the attitude of attentive listening,commitment in recording instruction as given, questioning, cordiality with client, firmness, analysis, classification, research, reporting, following legal procedure etc.

Importantly, would be lawyers are drilled on the attitude of radiating affluence, pomposity; in certain circumstances intimidating and some unique extrinsic arrogance as the only learned personality in the universe.

NOUN law students are not excluded. If each discipline inculcates certain peculiar character and attitude among its learners, NOUN law students can not be exception, except it is proved that the students do not study law, but mere knowledge of what of what the public has to be told.

In Professor J.A. Adeyanju v University of Ilorin and anor, Justice Chima Centus Nweze stated "Universities popularly referred to as "Ivory towers" are famous as citadel of learning: as centers of robust, open and engaging academic and scholastic disputations: unbridled disputations that shape and mould policies; that interrogate otiose and moribund assumptions; that generate hypotheses which almost always engender paradigm in attitudes, tendencies and social goals".

Okeke Chris: Justice Centus Nweze: A round peg in a round hole. The Guardian, Tuesday December p.47 If the generalization is true of Universities, and NOUN is a University then the generalization of Justice Nweze is true of NOUN.

It may not be out of place to highlight some aspects of discrimination meted out to NOUN law graduates, one aspect of which is reflected in the application for 2015 Bar Part 1 Course.

Application for 2015 Bar Part 1 Course - Glaring Discrimination

In the advert, for the application for 2015 Bar Part 1 Course, 'Part-time' is excluded in the advert for overseas law candidates; ie. it is not included as a condition for denying admission to overseas candidates for Law School.

The reason is very clear - a significant number of African students, particularly those from poor homes acquire their degrees, including law, by part-time studies overseas. This is not a secret, but a fact. In the advanced countries what matters is that a candidate for any course should meet the admission requirement, study diligently, pass the required examination and remain disciplined during the duration of the course of study.

The advanced nations are more interested in performance whether intellectual or practical. Hence the advanced nations have high population of literacy and performance oriented citizens compared to Nigeria.

The CLE and BB proscribe part-time study of law in Nigeria but by the advert are silent on overseas law candidates. This acquiescence is not unusual. Many Nigerians are disdainful of what is their own, but have favourable preference from what comes from "ovas", 'foreign'. The spurious belief is that what is foreign is the best, what is local is inferior.

We may recall that when NECO was introduced in Nigeria, it was rejected by Nigerian Universities for the purpose of admission. WAEC was preferred. NECO had to be forced down the throat of Universities by the government. Today, Nigerian youths who passed NECO at five credit level have gained admission and have successfully graduated in honours.

Many well placed elites and their rich counterparts send their children overseas for courses that are available in Nigerian Universities, available even in the institutions some of these elites teach or work. They pay comfortably through their nose to sponsor their children, since the money is readily available to them. They consider Nigerian Universities inferior.

The former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi, reported that Nigerians spend 62 to 65 billion Naira in Ghana for paying school fees. Some of them boast openly on how much they spend overseas on education.

It was also declared recently that Nigeria tops the population of international students in United States. Thus, it is not unusual for the average Nigerian to reject what is his own in preference for what is foreign.

NOUN L.L.B students study the same courses that are studied in accredited Faculty of Law of Nigerian Universities. They take and pass standard law examination questions comparable to the standard set in any other part of the world, yet they are proscribed.

This amounts to discrimination.

Section 42 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended grants Nigerian citizens Right to Freedom from discrimination.

The Nigerian constitution is the grundnorm from which other statutes, laws, by laws, regulations and rules take their root including the statutes establishing NOUN, CLE and BB.

Again, Rule of Law is a universal concept in democratic countries world over. It states that all people stand equal before the law, no one should expect to receive special treatment.

Speaking at the NBA - SBL conference, the SBL's chairman, Gbenga Oyebode objected to "a situation where we still have people going to school for almost two years, especially foreign graduates to be admitted to Nigeria'legal profession is not nice"

Bertram Nwannekanma, at NBA-SBL conference, Continuous Legal Education, rule of law. The Guardian Tuesday, July 2, 2013 p.73.

It is very unfortunate that a Nigerian NOUN student who studies L.L.B for a minimum of five years and passes creditably, is ostracized from Nigerian Law School as if he is L.L.B leprosy graduate, while an overseas candidate who spends "almost two years" is admitted because he arrived from "overs".

Surprising enough, the overseas countries from which Nigeria copied the Open University system permit part-time, external programme or correspondence course. They admit their successful law graduates for vocational training, while CLE and BB proscribe Nigerian NOUN L.L.B students.

Our ancient elders sighed at those who quench the glowing fire retrieved from the spirit world by a traditional legend, instead of blowing it to blossom and brighten the earth.

One may ask - what is the position of the Chairman of Council of Legal Education, Chief O. C. J. Okocha SAN on some of these issues?

Position of Chairman Council of Legal Education, Chief O. C. J. Okocha SAN In the interview granted to Joseph Onyekwere by the Chairman Council of Legal Education, Chief O. C. J. Okocha SAN, the distinguished legal luminary stated that NOUN "students can't be admitted into Law School for now until certain issues are addressed... We do not believe that law is a course that should be learnt by correspondence.

You can't see a lawyer addressing a court by correspondence". The interview was published in December 2013, one wonders whether the "certain issues" were addressed before the public notice of Tuesday, April 7 2015, declaring non approval of L.L.B degree of NOUN.

Well, the Chairman is free to believe that law is not "a course that should be learnt by correspondence".

We have documented some empirical evidences of distinguished Nigerian lawyers who studied law by Correspondence Course. Universities of many Common Law Countries world over, still offer law by Correspondence Course.

The Chairman said "you can't see a lawyer addressing a court by correspondence". Depending on whom the Chairman referred to as "you". The Chairman knows what 'correspondence' means and what 'correspondence course' means.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English Fifth Edition p.261.defines correspondence "as a state of being related or similar," "the letter a person receives;" "act or activity of writing letters. 'Correspondence course;' the dictionary explains, is "a course of study often done at home, using books and exercises sent by post"

Legal Drafting is a course in law. It includes how to draft legal letters. Such a letter can be used by a lawyer to address a court as evidence. The Judge can also receive a letter from a lawyer on a pressing issue.

There was this case in which a suspect, Tope Alobatele filed an action against a judge of the Lagos High Court Ikeja for allegedly debriefing his counsel, Kabir Akingbolu without his consent. According to the deponent, "on 12 March 2015 when the matter came up before the court, my counsel Akingboluy was not in court but sent a letter for adjournment, informing the court of the demise of his father and mother and that he had travelled to Ekiti for the burial which was scheduled to take place around that time"Joseph Onyekwere Suspect Sues Judge over Substituting Counsel The Guardian Tuesday June 2015p.48.Thus, a lawyer can address a court by correspondence. Concerning Correspondence Course, it is a fact that University of London, the third University in the hierarchy of top quality Universities in the world has run legal correspondence courses for centuries and the law students who are successful are called to the bar and have been seen addressing the court. World over, some lawyers who studied law by Correspondence Course of a university and called to Bar, have been seen addressing the court on legal matters. Afe Babalola studied law by Correspondence Course of the prestigious University of London; Afe Babalola was called to Bar and has been addressing the court on legal matters.

As stated earlier, NOUN is not strictly speaking, running Correspondence Course since lectures are given to students. Lecture materials from NOUN book store are collected by students on paying for them and not by post. The materials are also accessed through the internet. Even if Correspondence Course is stated as one of the aims of NOUN what is wrong with it, if it is properly supervised and regulated by CLE and BB. If University of London and others have been successful at running Part-time, External or Correspondence Courses, why can't Nigerian legal elites emulate them, in the interest of the nation? Shall we remain underdeveloped for ever? It is the hand that makes the dry fish bend.

Our ancient elders caution that a dog should not be given a bad name to hang it. In the same interview, Joseph Onyekwere asked the Chairman of Council of Legal Education why NOUN should not be admitted to Law School to see if they can pass the examinations. The Chairman replied "we are already having difficulties in the number we are admitting. Each University has a quota so that facilities of the six campuses can accommodate them. So if we allow a flood gate, everybody comes into the law school where will they sit to receive tuition, where would they sit to participate inmock trials and moot. So things are being rationalized such that we can take in what we can manage" The above response reveals to Nigerians what may be considered as one of the crux of the matter. The discrimination against NOUN law graduate, its rationalization out of the Law School is not because its curriculum, methodology or examination standards are in doubt. In fact records have not shown any criticism by CLE and BB against them. The discrimination and its rationalization, are because of poor infrastructure and logistics as stated above by the chairman. These are problems that CLE and BB can iron out with the Federal Government. Instead NOUN law graduates are discriminated against without justification. Law graduates of NOUN must suffer for what appears to be poor planning and management of Law School infrastructure and logistics, rationalized by throwing away the child with the bath water. The interview revealed that in 2013, 5016 Nigerian law graduates from accredited Universities were admitted to the Law School. Nigerians were not told the number of undergraduates admitted by Nigerian Law Faculties of accredited Universities. In the interview granted to Professor Peter Crips of BPP University, London, already mentioned, he revealed that BPP University alone admits 17000 law students, being the largest undergraduate law degree programme in England, and occupies the 5th position in teaching rating. The top most rated Universities that also offer law degrees include Oxford University, Cambridge University; University College London etc. They have their own population of law undergraduates. When United Kingdom, a smaller population, is compared with Nigeria, the most populous black country in the world, it may be realized that the number of law students admitted by Nigerian law Faculties appear insignificant.

Thus, one does not need to consult a witch doctor to realise that with adequate facilities and logistic planning, NOUN law graduates can be adequately accommodated in Nigerian Law School. Another important question that requires consideration is this - has NOUN any obligation to its law graduates? Of course, the answer is obviously 'yes'. Obligation of NOUN to its Law Graduates NOUN owes unflinching obligation to NOUN law students and graduates. It has the responsibility to ensure that it has its quota of law graduates at the vocational school. At the annual convocation, NOUN assures Nigerians that the graduates have been found worthy in character and learning and are guaranteed the benefits thereof. This declaration has to be put to fruition as far as law graduates are concerned. Again, Daily Sun Editorial already mentioned said, among other things "that the best approach in the present circumstance is for the Council of Legal Education to sit down and discuss with NOUN authorities to identify and remedy any deficiencies seen in Open University law programme.

The students who have been enrolled in the programme for many years now should be allowed to finish these courses and enrolled in the law school, before a decision is reached onwhether to continue with the programme or not. Daily Sun Editorial, Daily Sun Wednesday May 6, 2015 p.19. Conclusion In conclusion it is very important to appeal to the President of Nigeria, and the Commander In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari to look into the discrimination meted out to law graduates of NOUN, their proscription, relegation to the background and denial of vocational training at the Nigerian Law School, by CLE and BB and to rectify the situation. The President promised Nigerians that his administration would be based on rule of law "in which none shall be so above the law that they are not subject to its dictates, and none shall be so below it that they are not availed of its protection".

The President has promised to run a government, "one that will listen to and embrace all". The President is hereby appealed to look into the discrimination meted out to NOUN law graduates by CLE and BB and to listen to the cry of the students with the view of protecting them from discrimination, by making it possible for NOUN law graduates to attend Law School. Read more..

What are the main objectives of ICT within the context of legal studies and practice in a globalized digital environment of the 21st century?

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Legal education in Nigeria is patterned after the system in England except that whereas lawyers in England are solicitors or barristers, all lawyers in Nigeria qualify and can practice as both barristers and solicitors.

Legal education in Nigeria consists of academic study for 4 to 5 years (depending on the mode of entry) in a law faculty and a year in the law school followed by call to the Nigerian Bar and enrollment as a legal practitioner at the Supreme Court.

It is the National Universities Commission (NUC) that established minimum academic standards for the conferment of law degrees (LL.B). Likewise, the Council of Legal Education has established requirement which a law degree must satisfy before it can qualify its holder for admission into the Nigerian Law School for a BL. This therefore subjects law faculties to two accreditations: one by the NUC and another by the Council of Legal Education (CLE).

In recent times, there has been growing concern about the deterioration of Nigeria’s educational system stemming from the quality of our university graduates, which has become less than satisfactory and the law graduates are no exception. Hence the growing demand for reforms not only in legal education but of the entire educational system in the country.

Since lawyers are required to have legal education before they can be called to the Bar, what constitutes the purpose of legal education?

According to NUC’s document on Minimum Academic Standards for law in Nigerian universities: “Academic legal education should therefore act, first, as a stimulus to stir the student into the critical analysis and examination of the prevailing social, economic and political systems of his community and, secondly, as an intellectual exercise aimed at studying and assessing the operation, efficacy and relevance of various rules of law in society.”

Undoubtedly, all human activities in their social, economic, political and environmental contexts, take place within a legal framework. It is therefore necessary, according to the NUC revised Minimum Academic Standards for Law, “that the student of law should also have a broad general knowledge and exposure to other disciplines in the process of acquiring legal education.”

In line with contemporary global practice, the NUC considered the merger of the revised Minimum Academic Standards (MAS) with the Benchmark Style Statements into one new document known as (BMAS), wherein, “the training in law is specifically aimed at producing lawyers whose level of education would equip them properly to serve as advisers, solicitors or advocates to governments and their agencies, companies, business firms, associations, individuals and families, etc.”

The above aim underscores the fact that “the role of lawyers is a pervasive one, straddling the political, economic and social life of the society. After all, lawyers are instrumental to whatever situation any country may find itself.

Lawyers, as judges, in private or corporate practice, in the academics or in government, shape the society and the lives of their fellow human beings.”

However, a lawyer can only be as good as the system of legal education that produced him. Legal education (both academic and vocational) is a vital ingredient that affects the quality of our justice system and the role of lawyers in the political, economic and social development of our country.

It has been rightly argued that “the study of law must not end with the imbibing of general principles of law; it must involve law in action; in all its ramifications. The relationship of law to social, economic and political realities of life must be encompassed.”

Improving the quality of legal education and of young lawyers

A number of legal scholars, jurists, legal practitioners and the Nigerian Bar Association, have, in recent times, repeatedly pointed out the following standards in legal education and in the performance of young lawyers and all have identified various factors responsible for this disturbing phenomenon.

These factors include: lack of consistency on the part of both NUC and CLE in ensuring compliance with the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) for law in

Nigerian universities and other stipulated requirements by the Council for Legal Education; grossly dishonest people adopted by some universities/law faculties to secure accreditation (full, provisional and interim) when in reality they are yet to meet the minimum requirements (in terms of staff mix, facilities, student- staff ratio, library holdings etc) stipulated by both NUC and CLE; poor quality and scope of the teaching and learning processes; lack of compulsory pupillage for young lawyers; inadequate mentoring and ridiculously low welfare package for young lawyers and poor funding/financing of education (legal education inclusive) in Nigeria.

Hence the need for improving the quality of legal education and of the performance of young lawyers in Nigeria. As of how, several proposals have been offered at several fora ranging from: - making the Nigerian Law School programme a two-year programme, to introducing practical/clinical training into legal education, making law a postgraduate degree programme, scrapping the Nigerian Law School entirely and making the Council of Legal Education an examination board (the USA system) etc.

Strategies for improving the quality of legal education and of the young lawyers in Nigeria

From the above analysis, the outstanding question remains unanswered:

what are the effective strategies for improving the quality of legal education and of the young lawyers in Nigeria?;

Are we to continue with our reactionary and curative approach to the challenges at hand or are we determined to be more proactive in our approach to addressing same and in earnest search for durable solutions to addressing national problems using law.

For example, does the answer to the falling standard of legal education or declining quality in the performance of young lawyers lay necessarily in the proposed two-year period at the law school?

Respectfully, the answer is no, because for a durable solution to the crisis at hand, we must collectively address the need for more skills-based and practice-oriented syllabus and scope of learning within the existing calendar;

Promote compulsory pupillage for young lawyers after graduation from the law school before graduates can practice on their own; ensure adequate mentoring and a dignified and sustainable welfare package for young lawyers to motivate them to work harder; advocate for improved financing for qualitative academic legal education and prudent management of resources at the universities/law faculties.

Undoubtedly, the introduction of Clinical Legal Education (CLE) in law faculties will lay the foundation for law students to carry with them throughout their professional career a great sense of professional commitment to the ethics and values of public service, subject however, to the availability and management of basic and relevant Information and Communications Technology related infrastructural facilities.

This leads to our next discussion on the future of legal education in Nigeria.

The future of legal education

Undoubtedly, the future of legal education in Nigeria lies essentially, though not exclusively, in the following:

I. Our collective efforts to develop a plan of action and strategic implementation framework to address the identifiable factors responsible for the falling standards of legal education and the quality of performance of young lawyers. This requires us to carefully develop the relevant measurable/verifiable indicators and benchmarks for durable solutions to the problems.

II. Our collective resolve to addressing the threats, opportunities and challenges that ICT poses to law, the legislature, the Bar, the Bench and the academia; and to our understanding of the impact of ICT on legal education in the 21st Century.

ICT has come to stay and Nigeria is fast becoming a heavy user of the internet for information, communication, research, electronic commerce and banking transactions; it is spending millions of naira on the internet.

There are growing indications that along with the expansion of legitimate internet use, Nigeria is acknowledged to be experiencing a rising tide of cybercrimes and cyber-insecurity and this follows a global pattern that has become glaring. Hence the justification for the coming into force of the Cybercrime Act, 2015 and the Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, 2014.

The existence of cybercrime is bound to raise issues of Cyberjurisdiction which can be seen as territorially borderless and multi jurisdictional because of the ease with which a user can access information, electronic communications and transact online; as well as commit cybercrimes using the same internet and other ICT tools.

Evidently, the use of electronic medium that disregards geographical boundaries throws the law, the Bar, the Bench, the academia and the law enforcement agencies into disarray by creating entirely new phenomena that need to become the subject of clear legal rules that cannot be governed, satisfactorily, by any current territorially-based sovereign law. Any insistence on reducing online transactions to a legal analysis based on geographic terms present, in effect, a new problem on a global scale.

Objectives of ICT in legal education

Another question that readily comes to mind is;

What are the main objectives of ICT within the context of legal studies and practice?

It is considered that ICT should among other objectives:

(i) Facilitate the storage, retrieval and dissemination of vital legal information for the successful pursuit of legal research and study.

(ii) Enable large number of students and researchers to have ready access to case law and other legal materials more efficiently than having them queue up for access to a limited number of books in the library.

(iii) Facilitate effective communication between teachers and students, particularly in distance learning and continuing education programmes.

Some of the ICT platforms include:- E-mail communication; diverse electronic discussion forums - forums such as Facebook, Twitter and various chat rooms enable participants pose questions and articulate views on diverse academic issues; legal data bases and video conferencing.

Further, our collective resolve to understanding and addressing the opportunities and challenges that globalization presents to legal education in Nigeria and how to survive in an era of global competitiveness for legal service delivery, e.g., what does it mean to have a legal education in a globalized digital environment of the 21st century?

Is there a commonality for all law students as to having basic legal education (with knowledge, skills and values inclusive)? What are the core competencies which every law graduate should have? These are questions which need to be addressed by the Bar and the academia before we set guidelines or standards.

Furthermore, the law faculties and the National Association of Law Teachers need to expedite action in establishing the Nigerian Academy of Law, whose critical role among others, is to mobilize, aggressively, technical, human, material and financial resources for the progressive realization of the ultimate goal and objectives of legal education in an era of globalization and ICT.

Finally, the future of legal education in the 21st Century digital age requires us to respectfully treat all stakeholders as equal and to live above the on-going BLAME THEORY in order to ensure that critical role of lawyers and legal education in promoting national development is sustainable and the gains should remain irreversible in the best interest of justice, the public and the present and future generations.

Visit Law – OlayinkaOyelamiCorporation (OOCORP) for more resources.

U.S. Immigration Basics Whether you plan to come to the United States for a short visit or a permanent stay, your first step is probably to apply for a visa.

2016-07-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Many people think they can show up at a U.S. embassy or border post, describe why they'd make a good addition to U.S. society, and be welcomed in. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite of how the U.S. immigration system works.

Instead, people who want to come to the United States, whether temporarily or permanently, must determine whether they fit into eligibility categories for either permanent residence (a "green card") or for a temporary stay ("nonimmigrant visa").

Then they must submit an application -- in fact, often a series of applications -- to one or more of the U.S. agencies responsible for carrying out the immigration laws. These include U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which has offices across the United States (plus a few overseas), and the U.S. Department of State (DOS), which manages consulates and embassies around the world.

What Permanent Residence (a Green Card) Is

If you want to be able to make your permanent home in the United States, you'll need what is called permanent residence, or a green card. Green card holders can live and work in the United States and travel in and out, with very few restrictions (though they can't vote and can be deported if they abuse their status or break U.S. laws).

Family members of U.S. citizens make up the largest number of green cards issued each year. Others are issued to investors and workers who have been petitioned by U.S. employers or have special skills. Still other categories have a humanitarian basis, such as refugee or asylum status (which can lead to a green card), for people who are fleeing persecution. For more information, see Green Cards (Permanent Residence): Who Qualifies?.

What a Temporary (Nonimmigrant) Visa Is

People who want to come to the United States for a limited time need what is called a nonimmigrant visa. This lets them participate in specified activities (such as studying, visiting, or working) until their visa runs out. Students and businesspeople make up the largest groups of nonimmigrant visa holders. Nonimmigrant visas are also issued for tourists, exchange visitors, and workers with some kind of specialty that is lacking in the U.S. workforce. For more information, see Nonimmigrant (Temporary) Visas: Who Qualifies?.

Exception: Visa Waiver Program

A visa is not necessary for short-term visitors from one of the visa waiver program countries listed at http://travel.state.gov. (Click "Travel Without a Visa.") You can come to the United States for up to 90 days for business or pleasure purposes if you're from one of these countries. You will, however, need to present a machine-readable passport. Also, beware: The ease of your entry is balanced by the ease with which you can be kicked out -- you automatically give up many rights and benefits when traveling without a visa.

To enter on a visa waiver, simply present yourself, your passport, and your ticket home to the officers you'll meet upon your U.S. arrival. If you come by land through Canada or Mexico, you'll also be asked for proof of sufficient funds to pay for your stay.

Applying for Immigration Rights

After figuring out what type of visa or green card you're eligible for, you'll need to figure out how to get it. Most people (with the occasional exception of Mexicans and Canadians or those traveling with a visa waiver) must obtain a visa at a U.S. consulate before departing for the United States. If you're already in the United States legally, you may be able to apply to adjust your status to permanent resident, or change your status to another type of visa.

For more on the appropriate application process, see either Applying for a Nonimmigrant (Temporary) Visa or Applying for a Green Card (Adjusting Status).

Where to Find the U.S. Immigration Laws

Your possibilities for a visa or green card are set out under U.S. federal law. Being federal, the law is the same across the United States. If you want to read the U.S. immigration laws -- which very few people actually want to do -- they're found in Title 8 of the U.S. Code, or in the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) In addition, information on how USCIS intends to carry out these laws is found at Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The DOS regulations are at Title 22 of the CFR. The CFR can be searched at the Government Printing Office website.

The trouble is that even lawyers have trouble researching the U.S. immigration laws -- they're considered to be the most convoluted and easily misunderstood portions of all U.S. law. But if you have a specific reference to a section that you'd like to read for yourself, by all means look it up, then seek professional help if you need it.

Your best bet for getting any professional help with your immigration situation is to hire an experienced immigration lawyer. Ask friends for referrals, go to the website of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), or go straight to Nolo's Lawyer Directory for a list of immigration attorneys in your geographical area (after bringing up the search results, click the "Types of Cases" and "Work History" tabs to learn about a particular lawyer's experience).

Whatever you do, don't go straight to USCIS for advice. The people who staff their front desk are not all well trained and, if they give you wrong information, they take no responsibility, even if it causes your deportation or destroys your chances of immigrating. This happens!

Many of these immigration laws are described in U.S. Immigration Made Easy, by Ilona Bray (Nolo). This book discusses how to obtain many different visas, including the K-1 visa for fiancés, the B-1 and B-2 business and tourist visas, the H-1B, H-2B, and H-3 visas for temporary specialty or agricultural workers, the L-1 visa for intracompany transferees, the E-1 and E-2 visas for treaty traders and investors, the F-1 and M-1 visas for students, the J-1 visa for exchange visitors and scholars, and the O, P, or R visas for temporary workers, as well as how to get a green card through a family member, through the Diversity Visa Lottery, or as an asylee or refugee.

The Risks of Lying to the U.S. Government

One of the worst things you can do to your chances of getting a visa or green card is to lie, either on paper or during an interview with a U.S. border or other immigration inspector. Lies can have both immediate consequences, such as not being able to enter the U.S., and long-term consequences, such as not being able to get a green card -- ever. Or, even if you were to obtain a green card through a lie, you might later be denied U.S. citizenship when your file is reviewed in connection with your application for naturalization and the lie is discovered -- which could also lead to your removal from the United States.

Example One:

Francois, a French citizen, applies at the U.S. embassy in Paris for a tourist visa. He fears he will not be allowed to enter the U.S. as a tourist if he reveals that he has a girlfriend in New York. He states in his application that he will be visiting various friends. When he arrives at JFK Airport in New York, an immigration inspector finds a letter in his luggage from his girlfriend, in which she says she is looking forward to his long visit. Francois is put on the next flight home, and not allowed to return for five years.

Example Two:

Assume that Francois's immigration inspector does not find the letter from his girlfriend and allows him to enter the country. After he arrives, Francois and his girlfriend decide to marry. He files an application for permanent residence with USCIS. It forwards his application to the U.S. consulate in Paris for review. This reveals that he lied about his plans. To obtain permanent residence, Francois will have to argue that USCIS should overlook his previous lie and allow him to stay. If he loses, he can be denied permanent residence and forced to leave the country.

Who Can Be Kept Out

No matter what eligibility category you fall into -- whether you've married a U.S. citizen, received a job offer, or been accepted to a school -- the United States has the right to say no. And not just because there's something wrong with your application. The immigration law contains a list of things, like crimes and certain diseases, that makes someone inadmissible. Click here for more information,

Further Resource

For a complete guide to how the immigration system really work . Click here

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Digital Research of Legal Resources Made Simple

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"God forbid that a lawyer knows all the law, but a good lawyer is one who knows where to find the law" - Lord Denning http://astore.amazon.com/olayinkaoyelamilegal-20/detail/1285439937

Digital Research of Legal Resources Made Simple

Lawyer Directory for Free Legal Advise

2016-05-11T01:36:00.001-07:00

Or you can use the directory to learn more about individual lawyers and then connect with the ones you choose. Lawyer Directory for Free Legal Advise