Reasons Why You Need Legal Services
Legal Services, as prevalent as they might be, are still not properly understood in a lot of jurisdictions, Nigeria included. This is because legal practice in some jurisdictions is viewed strictly from the relatively narrow lens of Dispute Resolution practice which still claims the bulk of legal professions across the world.
As a result, many people with no dispute resolution matters have trouble understanding WHY they need legal services, which this article aims to explain by pointing out the reasons you need legal services which are as follows:-
– Cautionary Reasons :- These involve hiring legal services in a cautionary capacity (typically, legal advisor capacities) that enables you to be properly guided at the pre-entry, negotiation, and pre-execution stages of several transactions and business relationships.
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– Regulatory Reasons :- This involves having legal services on a revolving basis for the purpose of satisfying regulatory compliance requirements in a wide range of business operations, the opposite of which would put your business at a great risk.
– Remedial Reasons :– You need legal services in a remedial capacity at the point of business relationships going awry, having your rights violated/suffering loss, or at the point of transactions falling apart using Courtroom litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution measures.
– Statutory Reasons:- By operation of law, certain business functions are required to be manned by legal practitioners ranging from Non-Executive & Independent Director roles to Company Secretarial to Manager/Receiver roles to corporate restructuring roles.
– Transaction support reasons :- From due diligence reports to documentation services to perfection of land titles to business license procurement to business relationship renewals and alternative business model set-up for specialized business sectors like Financial services & Financial Technology, the importance of legal services cannot be overestimated.
Ethical Offenses For Which a Lawyer can be Penalized in Nigeria
That lawyers and in particular, legal practitioners, are held to a higher standard of behavior is not exactly new. But there is still a lack of clarity as to the exact acts , types of conduct, or omissions that would be enough to get lawyers into trouble in Common Law jurisdictions like Nigeria.
This article will be outlining and briefly explaining what these ethical offenses are as follows:-
1). Infamous Conduct in a Professional Respect/Regard or Manner :– This involves an act or omission of a dishonorable nature that would be reasonably contemplated as bringing disrepute to the legal profession as a whole.
2). A Conviction By a Court in Nigeria for Offences Incompatible with the status of a lawyer :- This does not have to necessarily involve acts or omissions arising from the performance or practice of the profession.
3). Enrolment by Fraud:- This involves being called to the Nigerian Legal profession on the basis of a fraudulent misrepresentation including but not limited to the falsification of qualifying certificates or being found unfit in character to be made a lawyer in Nigeria e.g. Secret Society Membership.
4). Conduct Incompatible with the status of a Legal Practitioner :- This would apply to behavior that would be deemed unbecoming of the status of a legal professional e.g. Public drunkenness or street fighting.