Will you shut up young lady, echoed the gigantic looking legal practitioner who judging by looks as at that time was supposedly in his mid-fifties to one petite looking lady lawyer who should be about 27years old from her looks as at then. She fearfully sank into her chair and the court went silent.
The bully lawyer adjusted his legal black gown, puffed his shoulders and said ‘forgive me my Lord for the minor distraction’ and there were echoes of fake laughter everywhere, while I raged in disgust within my soul. I was made to understand later that he was a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and therefore a litigation big dog; while the lady was a new wig handling her not too old at the bar Boss’ brief.
I agree, that the young lady erred by trying to announce her appearance in court as a Defendant Counsel before the Plaintiff’s Counsel. It however, didn’t warrant the demeaning manner in which the supposed SAN addressed her. Nobody has a right in this world to tell another person to ‘shut up’ in that manner, irrespective of the person’s age at the bar. The echoed laughter irked me even more than the ‘shut up’ funny enough.
This experience happened in Lagos State during my court attachment many years ago when I was still in Law school. That experience got me questioning my career path that time because the good Lord knows that whom I was back then would have given that ill mannered man a piece of my mouth if I was in that lady’s position; irrespective of his age or position at the bar. Anybody who knew me back then knows that my mantra in life then and even now is that ‘respect is reciprocal’.
Now, fast forward to when I got called to the Nigerian bar some months later after that ugly experience and I legit had my own first-hand experience in the hands of a bully lawyer(s). My boss and I were to appear in a civil matter together that fateful day at the state high court. The Judge announced a few minutes after taking his seat that those whose matter was up for hearing on the said day should pardon him and meet the Registrar outside for another closer date as there was an emergency that came up that morning and he needed to fly to Abuja before 3pm that said day.
My Boss passed me his diary to go haggle the said date on his behalf and quickly took his leave as some clients were waiting for him at the office. When the registrar came out to attend to us, she was dishing out dates in accordance with the cause list. When it got to our case, I echoed ‘11th October will be ok for me’ the way I saw others doing and surprisingly a loud sarcastic laughter went up the air. I was confused as to what was funny that was making the short bleached out man laugh the way he was laughing. Amidst his laughter he said ‘ebe kwa ka nwa oke nke a si”? (Where is this small rat from?
When he said that, I briefly went blank in my head. No one has ever questioned my spoken English since my secondary school till date. So, what was making him laugh? There is no known legal diction for picking dates either that I may have omitted. While I was busy asking myself many questions, the man spoke again. “Umuaka a ana ekpobata na practice amaro ogbo ha. Okwo m were ura maa nwatakiri a, asi na senior bu ajo mmadu”. (The kids they swear into the legal profession these days don’t know their mates, if I slap this child now, they will say I am a bad person).
At this point, as opposed to the usual me and how I may have ordinarily reacted to such berating from someone, the anxieties I was currently facing as a new wig tied up my tongue (who knows?, maybe that lady lawyer during my court attachment was in the emotional state I was in that day back then). So, I started staring at him in disbelief and albeit a little fear because the other lawyers around who were supposedly his friends or his conquests in his bully sojourn were cheering him on. He picked 18th and I quietly told him it was not convenient for my Boss going by his diary; and they laughed even more. One said ‘Ana ekwu nke o mere, o mekwa ozo’ (as we are still deliberating the one she did before, she is still doing more).
I didn’t speak again. I concurred to the next date he took without even looking at my Boss’ diary and left immediately. When I got to the office, I went to my Boss’ office with my offended head to report what happened; and surprisingly my Boss hissed at me like I just spoke jargons and continued his desk work. My Boss’ reaction made that bully lawyer experience more painful and I wept like a child when I got back to my desk. When I got home that day, I dedicated my night study hours to surfing the net for an alternative job I could apply for with my law degree; as it was obvious I was on the wrong path.
Encountering bullies in court after that day started to feel like an everyday experience for me in my jurisdiction. I was afraid to react because the way they were going about it started to feel like a norm. My Boss for some reason even became more hostile to me at work. I started to hate work days. I was gradually sinking into depression and could not find my voice to tell anyone what was happening to me in the so called temple of justice.
One fateful day at the office after about four months of this repeated bully lawyer(s) experience; my Boss assigned me to prepare a contract between our Client’s Company and another Company. I diligently did my job as I love legal drafting so much. When I handed my job to my Boss, he took a quick glance and threw the papers on the floor. He echoed ‘are you even sure you wrote your bar exams yourself, you this girl’? I stared at him continuously without batting an eyelid for about 5mins plus before I summoned every gut within me and blurted “with all due respect sir, please don’t address me that way again. Correct me if you feel I made a mistake and not berate me in that manner. I gave that work my best”. I walked off his office and went to my desk to cry again.
After about 2hrs, the Secretary came to tell me that the Boss wanted to see me. In my mind I was like ‘sack me already. Me I am even tired’. On getting to his office, I surprisingly saw a champagne on his desk with two glasses. He popped it, poured us some drinks and said ‘welcome to law practice’. I still didn’t get what he meant by that so he started his lectures that went thus:
- This is a dog eat dog profession my child. To ace it, your heart must be strong.
- Seniority matters a lot in this profession, but a lawyer is a lawyer; regardless of your age at the bar.
- Never let anyone convince you that you are not good enough, because your courage in this profession matters more than any other thing.
- Don’t take anything personal in this profession, because if you do; that’s a recipe for madness.
- You don’t react to everything in this profession.
- Everybody in this profession is a LEARNER till death. The next person you think is better is simply a better researcher than you at the point you are feeling so.
- Be very respectful, but always learn to address issues you are not comfortable with directly so as to rise above it.
- Be fearless and confident in whatever it is that you know.
- Treat your law career as a business. The lawyer at the other end is forever your silent business competitor.
- Pay attention to your health. If you feel saturated, take a break.
- Wisdom is key in all you do as a lawyer.
Those words of his, changed my approach to litigation and helped me restructure my head and attitude in court. I recited the numbered words above everyday like a mantra back then.
Over the years in practice later on, I encountered that senior colleague that berated me when we were taking dates in a defamation matter as an opposing counsel again. When he saw me on the opposing side, he got lazy with his work believing it was business as usual like he did me the first time. I made sure I ignored all his constant snide remarks in the course of that matter and gave my best to that case.
He was in shock the day the judge read out the judgement of that matter in favour of my client. I approached him outside the courtroom on that said day with smiles all over my face and respectfully said to him “Good afternoon senior, the young shall grow” and I walked away.