Legal practitioners in Nigeria have been advised to harness information communication technology, ICT, for effective law practice in the country.
The Chairman, Body of Benchers, Retired Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour gave the charge to new wigs during the Call to Bar ceremony held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
According to him, the impact of ICT in the legal profession in the 21st century cannot be overemphasized.
’’The future of law practice in Nigeria remained bright with the advent of legal analytic software’s and the internet which provides a complete range of legal information as a source of material for judicial decisions’’ he said.
He also said that ICT can be of great value in daily practice in law firms, and that client counselling can also be done online. He charged the new lawyers not to see the computer as an ordinary machine.
According to the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, there are four essentials a lawyer must take advantage of and that is, unrestricted access to the computer, appropriate software, internet connection and training.
’’Globalization is the word right now. You must walk yourselves into the mainstream of the technological development affecting the legal profession’’ he added.
Sustaining law and democracy in Nigeria
The Director General of the Nigerian Law School, Professor Isa Chiroma said that the Nigerian law school, its programmes in manpower training and development, particularly in the aspect of the administration of justice is critical in the sustenance of rule of law and democracy in Nigeria.
The Director General also said that the Nigerian law school has contributed in training all arms of government in the country.
’’It is the tribute of to the school that all judges of various courts in Nigeria are products of the Nigerian Law School’’ he said.
A total of 880 candidates were called to the Nigerian Bar.
Emmanuel Ukoh
