By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja.

Today, 27th December 2024 is an eventful day in the twenty years since I qualified as a lawyer.

Today, I witnessed first-hand the twin benefits of building a good network of contacts amongst lawyers both within and outside Nigeria on the one hand. And also the benefit for a young lawyer (and any lawyer for that matter) to choose an area of specialisation in the legal profession.

Some years ago, I was contacted via LINKEDIN by a Dubai based lawyer to do some legal writing work. I completed the task to his satisfaction.
Also, some years ago when I traveled to deliver training for the lawyers of the Ministry of Justice of The Gambia, I cultivated a friendship with a young law student whose father was a staff of the Gambian High Commission in Abuja.

This young lawyer later worked as my legal assistant at the National Institute for Legislative Studies for over a year. He was a very valuable asset, he was quick to understand legal concepts within my area of specialisation which is legislative drafting and was of practical assistance to me on several projects such as the drafting of the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill which was sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi with funding from the United Nations Women entity.

This young lawyer, later attended the Nigerian Law School and later also attended the Gambian Law School to qualify as a lawyer in his home country. After he qualified as a lawyer in The Gambia, he commenced practice in a law firm in the Gambia that specialises in maritime law.

In early December 2024, I received a phone call from the Dubai based lawyer that they are in dire need of a TRUSTED Gambian based lawyer with expertise in maritime law.

I sent the CV of the said former legal research assistant, and after a virtual interview etc., the Dubai based law firm agreed to hire this my former legal research assistant.

To cut a long story short, when I saw the professional fees that they agreed to pay this former legal research assistant, I felt the euphoria of a proud father, who had nurtured a young lawyer to earn such huge professional fees in a record time, whereas it took me about ten years to see such figures.

It impressed upon me the value of teaching and mentoring younger lawyers to cultivate two essential skills for legal practice namely: (1) cultivating good relationships and (2) developing expertise and competence in specific areas of legal practice.