Paul Usoro is one of Nigeria’s leading lawyers, with industry-leading expertise in commercial and telecommunications law. The following is an excerpt from a speech in Markudi, Benue to commemorate the NBA Markudi Branch 2018 Law Week.
Pupillage generally connotes the concept of understudying or working under another with a view to better one’s knowledge, understanding and grasp of a skill or profession.
Pupillage, in law, entails continuing legal education coupled with work experience. It is a period of practical training where fresh law graduands work, for a specified period, under the watch of an experienced lawyer. It seeks to develop vocational skills and deepen the pupil’s understanding of various practice areas.
Mentorship provides a platform for lawyers to look at senior members of the Bar to guide them, and from whose pattern of practice they would learn and expand. It creates a voluntary relationship which can be mutually beneficial for professional growth, career development and fulfilment.
Pupillage and Mentorship in the way it is defined currently has no laid down framework in Nigeria. There is, however, a general consensus that where it is properly adopted, it would no doubt increase the quality of lawyers in the legal practice. They would have gained sufficient work experience from tutorship.
The whole essence of the advocacy for mentorship and pupillage revolve around the under-listed, and non-exhaustive benefits thereof:
– Organized work experience and exposure;
– Deepening of ethics and rules of the legal profession for the young lawyer;
– Guide from mentors with established practice;
– Guide on translating and applying learned theoretical concepts to real-life situations;
– Provision of a framework or platform for mandatory practical continuing legal education; and
– Ultimately, improved standard and quality of lawyers in Legal Practice.
The current clamour for pupillage and mentorship is anchored on fallen standards of practice as well as the need to enhance the economic well-being of junior lawyers. For some, this might involve adopting the medical housemanship program for legal pupillage.
The United Kingdom has one of the most organised pupillage systems for training of lawyers in the world. In the UK, the role of the barrister is clearly distinguished from the role of a solicitor. Pupillage typically occurs in the final stage of training to become a Barrister and it usually lasts for a period of one year, split into two different stages – 6 months of the non-practising period, and 6 months of practising period.
During the first stage, the pupil shadows a supervisor senior, observing him at court, conferences, meetings and provides assistance with related paper works. The next stage – the practising period – sees the pupil undertaking practical legal assignments, including the exercise of the right of audience in courts. At the end of the first stage, the pupil receives a Provisional Qualifying Certificate from the Bar Standard Board, and on completion of the pupillage program, the pupil would receive a Full Qualifying Certificate as a Barrister. The remuneration of the pupil during pupillage is also well taken care of as the Bar Council stipulates a minimum wage of £1,000 per month.
Nigeria legal practice currently has no legal framework or guideline for the pupillage or mentorship of young lawyers. At present, a person called to the Nigerian Bar can decide to open up his own legal practice with little or no experience. The closest to pupillage in our country is the externship programme of the Nigerian Law School, which is for a period of 6 weeks, which is not long enough to instill the needed skills into young lawyers.
There is, however, a Legal Profession Regulation Bill currently before the National Assembly. The Bill seeks to introduce a framework and regulation for mandatory pupillage in Nigeria. Section 86 (1) of the Draft Bill makes it mandatory for every person called to the Nigerian Bar to undergo pupillage for a minimum period of two (2) years in the office of an experienced legal practitioner.
The Bill establishes a Remuneration and Welfare Committee whose responsibility among others is to determine the remuneration for lawyers. This provision of the Bill is in apparent heed to the outcry around the welfare and remuneration of such young lawyers. We note, however, that the Bill is silent on what the minimum remuneration package should be for the young lawyers undergoing pupillage.
Recommendations
We should determine whether pupillage should be part of the qualification process or post-qualification experience. In this regard, we can look to the United Kingdom as well as South Africa as well as medical housemanship in this country for inspiration. There is a need to have a defined institutional and regulatory framework for pupillage and mentorship. But who will regulate it? the Council for Legal Education? the Body of Benchers? the Nigerian Law School? the NBA? That will be an important determination
In other climes, pupillage is for barristers. But then, in those climes, there is a clear divide between barristers and solicitors. We need to decide what we need and adapt core principles to our local circumstances. It is important at this point to note that mentorship is different from pupillage.
Standards need to be monitored and looked into generally to ensure that they are maintained. Pupils need to be taught the right standards and practices and that means there must be minimum standards that law firms must have to qualify as mentoring centres.
The current clamour tends to confuse pupillage for training purposes as distinct from pupilage as a way of ameliorating the economic circumstances of young lawyers. Pupillage in other climes are primarily for training purposes and that should be our emphasis.
Mentorship is not part of a training or qualifying program. It’s generally voluntary and has no set tenure or timeframe.
A mentor may not have any economic benefits howsoever, unlike pupillage where the pupil must work and would be adjudged based on his or her productivity.
The onus is, therefore, more on mentee to seek out mentors. A mentorship program may not be formal or structured.
In adopting Pupillage and Mentorship programmes in Nigerian legal practice, tmy candid recommendations are these:
• Borrow a leaf from other jurisdictions, particularly the United Kingdom, in setting up a framework for pupillage, we must take into cognisance our own local circumstances – adequate remuneration for lawyers undergoing pupillage must form a key consideration for such practice.
• In addition, there should also be an associated mandatory obligation for established legal practitioners to take in, and adequately remunerate a prescribed minimum of young lawyers every year.
Conclusively, pupillage and mentorship are not only necessary but absolutely essential for the professional growth of lawyers in particular, and the enhancement of quality legal practice in Nigeria, in general.
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