Yearly More Lawyers vs Vanishing Legal Jobs: Lawyers Lament Dwindling Legal Opportunities and Jobs
The grim reality of Nigeria’s legal profession took center stage once again as lawyers on social media bared their frustrations over what many describe as the steady collapse of conventional legal job opportunities.
In a post shared on the popular Facebook group, Lawyers in Nigeria, a lawyer, Friday Lawani, expressed concern over the widening gap between the increasing number of new wigs and the shrinking job market.
“Yearly, more lawyers are being admitted to the Nigerian bar, yet nearly all conventional legal job opportunities are vanishing!!” Lawani lamented, triggering a flurry of reactions from his colleagues, many of whom echoed similar frustrations.
“Learn a skill, start a business,” advised Barr. Ali KAs, urging young lawyers to find alternative sources of income outside the strict confines of legal practice. “Let your business pay your bills,” he added, highlighting the harsh economic climate and the limitations of relying solely on the legal profession.
But not everyone agreed that the problem lay entirely with individual choices. Chibueze Onwumah painted a bleaker picture, accusing the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) of failing to protect its members’ interests. “The NBA has outlived its usefulness. All they want is to collect without protecting or creating avenues for lawyers to be paid their worth,” he said.
Others pointed to poor implementation of existing policies as part of the problem. Kingsley Adrian Banks referenced the Remuneration Order, 2023, designed to standardize legal fees, but lamented that it remains largely ignored.
“Despite the guidelines, you still see lawyers charging far below the prescribed charges. Clients boldly tell you another lawyer charged ₦30,000 for preparing a deed,” Banks stated. He called for the NBA to make examples of erring lawyers to deter undercutting.
Ali KAs expressed deep cynicism about the Nigerian legal system as a whole, suggesting that wealth now determines how the law is applied. “The law works not against you but supports you when you have money,” he declared, pointing to high-profile cases involving politicians as examples.
Another lawyer, Timothy Onyedika, argued that younger lawyers are bearing the brunt of the system’s failures. “Most senior advocates I know have businesses they do. RPC [Rules of Professional Conduct] is for young lawyers,” he said, implying that senior lawyers find ways to sidestep restrictions while juniors are left struggling.
Ali KAS doubled down on the criticism, accusing NBA leaders of feeding off young lawyers. “The objectives of NBA have been in coma ever since I became a lawyer 10 years ago. Law in Nigeria is dying because of the kind of people we have as regulators,” he said.
The sentiments were shared by other contributors who described the legal profession as “very exasperating” .
