HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL LEGAL CAREER

OLUROTIMI PAUL IDOWU

Rotimi graduated as the best student in the Faculty of Law, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, in 1997, and proceeded to obtain his Master’s degree in same discipline from the University College, London. He currently works in the Legal department of an International Oil Company. A mentor to many young people, Rotimi is a member of JarusHub Analysts Council, aka The Jarus Eggheads.

Success is not a destination. It is a journey. It does not happen by luck or out of the blues. A successful career, in any field, does not start when you have a job. It starts from school. This is so because the degree you come out of the school with goes a long way in determining the type of job you get, in most cases.

The truth about Nigeria, and I dare say, almost everywhere else in the world, is that if you did not do well in school, your chances of getting a very good job are vastly limited. By “doing well”, I mean, graduating with a good degree, which, in this part of the world, actually means “second class upper degree”, at the minimum. A first class degree clearly puts you at a great advantage, and you will hardly lack good choices. This does not mean that those who graduated with second class lower degree don’t get good jobs. The reality is that in a sea of curriculum vitaes, those with first class and second class upper degrees are given preference. This may not be the best mode of shortlisting, but it gives employers an easy way to shortlist. Happily, there are multinationals who give candidates with a second class lower degree opportunity to write recruitment tests, and if they can scale that hurdle, then their destiny is in their hands.

I always counsel young people to ensure that they put in their best while in school, and try and get a minimum of second class upper degree, if they can, so that they can make the journey to a successful career less arduous for themselves.

Now talking about a legal career specifically, I will share a couple of point with you that I think can be of help to you.

First, you must have interest in law, to study it in the university. Without interest in law, your legal career is dead on arrival. In fact, it is non-existent. I have seen law graduates who told me they do not have passion for law, but they studied the course because their parents wanted them to do it. Well, sorry. As long as the passion is not there, you have no business pursuing a legal career. It is better for you to look for something that you have passion for and pursue it.

Assuming that the passion is there, you need to be informed in order to be successful in the legal profession. The legal profession is vast. There are so many different aspects of legal practice that a lawyer can go into. These include: teaching law, litigation, corporate legal practice, arbitration, company secretariat, transactional practice, etc. As a lawyer you can work as in-house counsel in any corporate organization e.g. banking, insurance, telecom, oil and gas and other sectors of the economy.

While some lawyers are comfortable working from a cozy office in a high rise conglomerate, others find fulfilment in slugging it out in the heat of our court-rooms, right in the centre of convoluted legal hostilities. It’s all about passion.

Working in a law firm does not mean you have to go to court. Most top law firms have different departments into which lawyers can be assigned, depending on their expertise, interest or career focus. I know lawyers who work for top law firms but have never been involved in litigation. How do they do it? They work in specialized units. Most top law firms, because of their reputation and expertise, service various clients in different sectors of the economy. Some of the services provided by these top law firms include negotiation of various business deals, transactional work, company secretariat services, arbitration, etc.

Nigeria Law School

Thirdly, success does not come cheap. It entails serious hard work and patience. The legal profession is not a place where you’ll find those with a “get rich quick” mentality. The profession is all about learning and developing critical legal skills that will distinguish you over time. The knowledge and skills are not developed overnight. Hence, it takes constant devotion and practice to gain recognition and clients’ confidence. Some of the skills that a budding lawyer needs to develop include communication skills (both writing and oral), legal drafting and advocacy skills. Advocacy skill is particularly compulsory for those who desire to go into litigation.

Fourthly, you need to invest in training. It is either you work for an organization that trains or you spend money to train yourself. Training will give you insight into how to resolve complex legal problems. Training will give you critical information that can make such a big difference between you and other lawyers who do not have the training that you have. Training does not have to be done abroad. There are several bodies that provide legal training locally. Take advantage of them. Going hand in hand with this is the need to subscribe to various legal journals, magazines or publications. These will provide you with useful information on developments within the legal profession.

The value of networking cannot be over-emphasized. Maintaining a robust network keeps you abreast of goings-on in the legal world. An easy way of achieving is by taking up membership of some vital professional bodies, for example, International Bar Association, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, etc.

These are just a few tips on how one can build a successful legal career.