From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Nigerian lawyers have been called upon to embrace emerging technology to enhance efficiency and productivity in the legal profession.
A legal practitioner and politician, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi made the call in his remarks at a training workshop for lawyers organised by his law firm, Liberty Semper Fidelis (LSF), in Abuja, with the theme, “Transforming the Legal Future of Law Practice.”
He explained that the main goal of the workshop is to develop the concept of Tech Law as an instrument for opening a new frontier in legal practice in the country.
Technology law is primarily concerned with building the framework for the collection, storage, dissemination, and use of information in the digital space.
Technology law also focuses on intellectual property rights, a complex branch of the legal system that deals with disputes over who ‘owns’ intangible ‘property’, such as creative works, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets. Technology law helps protect the creatives who come up with these ideas and also ensures rights concerning the distribution of their work.
Senator Afikuyomi, who is the principal partner, Liberty Semper Fidelis, noted that technology can be used to redefine the profession and make it more relevant and useful to the development of the economy.
He said “With the downturn in the economy, all professionals should put on their thinking caps and think out of the box to contribute innovative ideas that will help the economy grow and chart a new course for our people. The commitment to TechLaw is our contribution in this direction.
According to him, “Major global economists make their most foreign resources by the provision of services including financial services, legal services, insurance services, and others.
“We believe that the legal profession should burrow deeper into and borrow more from the ever-unfolding sphere of technology to use it to make justice delivery easier, quicker, and equitable. It is our firm belief that the time has come for the law to properly play its role as the pivot of society by helping to push up the economy and the justice system. We know that it is high time the legal profession adopted a similar model in the delivery of justice as the financial services sector has used FinTech as a cutting-edge application for improved service delivery.
“In the same way that FinTech has helped to uplift our economy and the international relevance of our young people in the global economy, we believe TechLaw can also do the same.”
Senator Afikuyomi stated that “There is so much potential that this new approach to the practice of law can unfold and unleash. We need to be determined to make it happen. It is not going to be an easy task and we in Liberty Semper Fidelis, LP, do not seek easy ways to make our impact felt or make a positive difference.
“This training workshop is to make us understand the Nigerian technology law landscape and appreciate the import of innovations like Artificial Intelligence (AI) in law and Justice.
“Thus, we will learn more about digital law, technology applications in law, and using new technology to improve our services to our clients and also help the justice sector of the economy to grow and comply with global best practices.
“We hope to use the workshop to set up modalities for making technology a driver for progressive change in our practice, in particular, and the profession in general. Liberty Semper Fidelis, LP, sees itself as a prime TechLaw firm in Africa. Thus, we want to help push LawTech to the front burner in the discourse about legal practice such that it becomes a basis for all programmes that will prepare our associates and others for the current and future transformation of law.
“TechLaw can help to grow the economy as well as lead to a faster and fairer dispensation of Justice. It charts the way forward for the legal practice to key into and benefit from the over $7.3 trillion investments that AI contributes to the global economy. We do not believe that the justice sector in our country should be excluded from such a huge global fortune,” he emphasised.