In a Borderless World, SBL Seeks Global Standard for Nigerian Lawyers

The Section on Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association is undertaking some interesting initiatives as part of its mandate to improve the standard of business law practice in Nigeria.

Mr. George Etomi & Ms Kim Phan

Recently in Lagos, the SBL whose chairman is Mr. George Etomi organized a meeting between the Executive Director of International Law Institute (ILI) Ms Kim Phan and some top law firms in the country to get their input about how the NBA can collaborate with the Institute in this quest.

The interactive session, which was hugely successful, was attended by over 30 lawyers from some 26 law firms. They supported the idea of the SBL seeking partnership with the ILI to set up a permanent training outfit in Nigeria, in the mode of the Lagos Business School, where lawyers already in employment could attend designated courses over a period from one week to one year to improve on their skills. The imperative of a continuing legal education programme which would be point scoring was emphasised and all agreed that a sustained re-education programme of lawyers was the surest way to attain global standard in service delivery.

This need was further high lightened by the ongoing debate about the WTO initiative to liberalise professional services amongst member nations. ‘Professional Services’ is defined to include legal services and it is a proposal by the WTO that lawyers be free to work across borders in member nations. This has naturally raised anxiety amongst practitioners in developing countries. Nigeria is currently represented by the Ministry of Commerce at the WTO talks.

The NBA, through the SBL, will therefore co-host a one day workshop on the WTO initiative on November 14 2006, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja where the pros and cons of the initiative would be extensively discussed, with a view to having the NBA take an informed position on this issue as its impact on the future of law practice would be fundamental.

Consequently, the SBL has urged all lawyers, especially senior members of the profession, to either attend the workshop or send a memorandum to the NBA Secretariat or the SBL for consideration. Meanwhile, consultations are going on between the SBL and Bar Associations of other developing countries to ensure that the NBA presents a strong case for itself. 

Click here to view Photos from the event