Acting CJN tasks new lawyers on integrity, competence

The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Tuesday advised newly admitted lawyers to the Nigerian Bar to perform their role as legal practitioners with integrity and competence.
Justice Onnoghen told the new wigs who have just completed their legal trainings from the various campuses of the Nigerian Law School to put into consideration the interest of their clients and the larger society while carrying out their judicial duties.
The Acting CJN, who was performing his first official call-to-bar ceremony since assuming office as the head of the country’s judiciary in Abuja on Tuesday, warned the new wigs that the Body of Benchers would not hesitate to throw out any erring lawyer from the legal profession.
While reminding the celebrants of the rules of professional conduct, Justice Onnoghen admonished the lawyers not shun any act that would bring the profession into disrepute.
He said: “As ministers in the temple of justice, it is never enough to solely protect the interest of your client. You must strive to attain justice above all and not derail its course even if it may not favour your client and avoid sharp practices.
“The role of lawyers are multi-faceted; it cuts across virtually every strata of the society. In all this, you are expected to maintain the highest profession standard of integrity and competence at all times. This should be your watch word.”
Onnoghen further charged the new lawyers on professional development so as to keep themselves abreast of latest legal developments in the country and across the globe.
“Read widely and continue to update your knowledge of the law in Nigeria and other comparable jurisdictions and also imbibe good understanding of the cultural and social setting which you practice because the law is a living phenomenon,” Justice Onnoghen said.
Earlier, the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Olanrewaju Onadeko (SAN), while presenting the new wigs to the Body of Benchers, deplored what he termed the “continuing challenge of violation of admission quotas” by some Faculties of Law in the country’s universities.
Onadeko noted that the allocated figures to Faculties of Law were a product of empirical evaluation of available resources that could cater for the academic needs of Law students.
While presenting a total of 4,225 candidates for the call-to-bar, the Director-General of the Law School advocated for the mandatory period of pupilage for young lawyers.
He said: “The current absence of any form of structured pupilage for new entrants into the legal profession has been cause for concern.
“As things are, a new wig may on enrollment set up his practice and function as a full-fledged legal practitioner.
“The reality, however, is that the new wig requires additional and invaluable work experience, under the supervision of a senior colleague.
“The basis of the insistence on good character for eligibility for admission to the legal profession is to shield it from those with propensity to act at variance with the interest of their clients, the profession itself and the justice system.”
The event was the release of the August/September 2016 Bar Final Examinations Results.
Giving a breakdown of the performance of the candidates in the examinations, Onadeko disclosed that “of their numbers, 24 candidates attained the First Class grade, while 567 candidates obtained the Second Class Upper Division”.
He said the number of First Class candidates that were presented was the largest since the inception of the Nigerian Law School.