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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
National President of Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria (ALSN), Mr. Angus Chukwuka, has advised legal practitioners, who are still operating in manual processing of court documents that they are risking their professional future.
Chukwuka, who was a former Publicity Secretary, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch, said the future of legal practice in Nigeria rests on the tripod of specialization, partnership and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) proficiency.
Speaking of the ALSN forthcoming two-day training, with the theme “Capacity Building in Admiralty Law and Practice”, the national president said lawyers should develop their online research capacity.
He said: “This future has started today and it is very glaring where we are headed. They (lawyers) should embrace online filing, service of processes and adjudication.This must be in collaboration with the judiciary.
“A lawyer, who continues with sole proprietorship, general practice and manual computers or typewriters may be endangering his professional future. He is clearly not a tomorrow’s lawyer.”
Mr. Chukwuka said legal practitioners and law firms must come together to form a consortium, explaining that within the group, there should be specialization or division of labour.
He said that there should also be proper agreement for sharing of proceeds, and selfishness, greed should be done away with, expressing optimism that lawyers would earn better that way.
According to him, an important area to specialize in is maritime law and practice. And capacity building would help lawyers with the coming of deep sea ports in Nigeria.
Chukwuka noted: “A good practice in maritime is world apart from general or conventional practice.
This has formed the basis of our capacity building courses which Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria has been organizing over the years for lawyers across the country.”
He, however, encouraged lawyers to register for the two-day maritime capacity building course, which would hold in Abuja on March 21 and 22, 2022.
