NBA-SBL perspective on the changing face of legal practice
Over the years, the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) has raised the bar in corporate commercial law practice and this has engendered the adoption of global standards and best practices within the legal profession through constructive engagements and collaborations with relevant local and international Institutions. The Section has achieved this through frequent seminars, trainings, workshops, and its flagship conference, the Annual Business Law Conference, which holds from the 18th to the 20th of June 2017.
It continues to engage government, policy makers and regulatory bodies to promote the delivery of qualitative business services to the public and the common interests of business law practitioners in Nigeria; to guide and assist Legislative bodies and/or parastatals with regards to the drafting and enactment of legislation pertaining to commercial and business issues in Nigeria; and to promote the exchange of views and information between the Section and other like-minded bodies as to the laws, practices and procedures affecting commercial law practice locally and internationally.
In this edition, and ahead of the 11th Annual Business Law Conference, the Vice Chair of the NBA-SBL, the 2017 Conference Chair and the Chair of Conference Programmes Sub-committee speak with LEGALBUSINESS on the conference theme for this year, ‘Law and the Changing Face of Legal practice’. They provide perspectives on the activities of the SBL in line with the forthcoming conference.
Excerpts…
SENI ADIO, SAN
Perspective on the sbl objective
The thrust for the birthing of the Section on Business Law out of the Nigerian Bar Association was to coalesce a critical mass of commercial lawyers into an affinity group to strategically address various matters that affect commercial law practitioners, as well as various other stakeholders, particularly the clients that we provide legal services. Invariably, these issues include the dynamism of business law and globalization of law practice.
The core of the Section are the subject matter related Committees, which comprises of 19 Committees. The Section also has Standing Committees and, occasionally, we set-up working groups to address specific issues as the need arise. Amongst other things, the memberships of the Committees are based on areas of specialization. Consequently, members constitute an invaluable resource by providing expert advise to public sector regulatory agencies, policy makers, as well as market participants in the private sector. The Conference presents a unique opportunity for discourse, the exchanging of ideas and experiences, and the proffering of solutions amongst internationally acclaimed resource persons, as well as policy makers, regulators, judiciary, corporate counsel, entrepreneurs, and various other stakeholders.
On driving policy changes
As you may recall, the theme for last year’s Conference was “Law Reform and Economic Development.” And, during the Conference, a recurring issue was the dismal performance of Nigeria on the 2016 Ease of Doing Business ranking by The World Bank, where we ranked 169 out of 189 countries. Thus, it was quite fortuitous that although no silver bullet exits to fix the problem, one of the most effective mechanisms to transform our business environment is through law reform and, in particular, reform to enhance the ease of doing business. Coincidentally,
With respect to engaging the government, regulators, policy makers and other stakeholders, we realized very early on the need to work closely with the Executive and Legislative arms of the Federal Government. The private sector under the auspices of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) had also come to the same conclusion, which culminated in the SBL and NESG collaborating initially on an ad-hoc basis and, subsequently, through a formalized structure to advocate reform in certain key areas.
Notably, the leadership of the 8th Assembly of the National Assembly had also made the economic revitalization of Nigeria its primary agenda. Thus, it made eminent sense to synergize our collective efforts, which resulted in establishing the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER), which is an enabling advocacy platform comprising of the National Assembly, NESG and SBL founded to foster law reform including the repeal, re-enactment and amendment of laws, as well as review of bills pending before the National Assembly.
The Senate President, His Excellency, Bukola Saraki, CON, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Honourable Yakubu Dogara have been very supportive and welcoming of our contributions. Indeed, the Senate President recently inaugurated a Working Group chaired by a member of our Section to provide recommendations on the repeal and re-enactment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, and the Investments and Securities Act.
The Section has also through NASSBER been advising the National Assembly on other very important legislations and bills, including the impending and what would be the first Competition Act in Nigeria. Other bills/legislations in which the SBL has made contributions through NASSBER include the Secured Transactions in Moveable Assets Bill, which was recently passed by the Senate, and the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (the “Forex Act”).
Likewise, the SBL is privileged to be working closely with the Executive arm of the Federal Government under the auspices of The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC)/The Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES). Here, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR has made great strides in implementing various transforming reforms to manifestly enhance the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Importantly, it is fitting and, indeed, noble to acknowledge and applaud the achievements of the Federal Government through our Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON with respect to the hands-on approach of the Presidency and the remarkable achievements thus far including the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on-line and 24-hour company incorporation process, upgrading the automated capacity of the Customs and Excise Service to inspect and clear goods, eliminating bottlenecks in the visa on arrival program, and the promotion of Made-in-Nigeria goods.
With particular reference to the Annual Conferences, examples of our resolve to follow through and achieve stated objectives include our collaborations with PEBEC and NASSBER, and the propagation of highly skilled commercial lawyers.
OLUBUNMI FAYOKUN
PARTNER, ALUKO & OYEBODE
Growth of the legal profession
Historically, Nigerian lawyers have been at the forefront of nation building. This dates back to the military era and continues in the current democratic dispensation. This is in line with trends in other jurisdictions, as the expectation from the general public is that lawyers should uphold the law and advance the cause of justice.
The legal profession has developed significantly in both its intellectual and social output. This can be ascribed to the determination of the Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) to provide the necessary platforms for the continuous development of lawyers in different areas of specialisation.
The NBA is currently implementing reforms that are geared towards ensuring that the legal profession in Nigeria maintains the highest standards and remains relevant in the light of an increasingly globalised legal services industry. A matter of urgent concern to the NBA is the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria, with particular reference to admission to the Nigerian Bar, legal education, continuing professional development, legal service delivery, professional conduct and ethics. To this end, the NBA has set up the NBA Legal Profession Regulatory Review Committee, to review the current regulatory regime for the legal profession and proffer recommendations on the way forward.
Changing face of legal practice
Bearing in mind the theme for this year’s Conference, ‘Law And The Changing Face Of Legal Practice’, a session has been earmarked to consider how Nigerian law firms can prepare for the globalisation of their practices.
In a changing legal landscape, the Nigerian lawyer must embrace technology and innovation in order to catch up with his peers in other jurisdictions, especially in an era where other service providers like the accounting firms are adapting and innovating to provide more efficient and cost effective service.
The SBL is at the forefront of providing training programmes that assist Nigerian lawyers to meet these challenges and move their practices to the next level
Globalisation: An opportunity or threat to the advancement of legal practice in Nigeria?
Legal practice in Nigeria is currently at a crossroad with the ongoing debate on whether to open up the sphere to lawyers from other jurisdictions as is the case in jurisdictions like South Africa.
The interest of international firms in Africa is a welcome development for two reasons. Firstly, it demonstrates the attractiveness of the Nigerian and African market for partnerships with global law firms. Secondly, if international firms end up entering into a formal arrangement with local firms, it will encourage local competitors to improve on the already high quality of legal services being provided. International law firms can aid in capacity building by sharing their experience with Nigerian law firms and through training, internships, and seminars.
Having said this, Nigeria maintains a high barrier to entry of foreign law firms into the country compared to some other African Countries like South Africa. While the law permits foreign trained lawyers to be called to the Nigerian Bar after going through the Nigerian Law School, foreign law firms per se, are not allowed to set up law practice in Nigeria. Given recent developments in South Africa where almost all the major international law firms have set up “Africa practices”, it appears that the time is ripe for the Nigerian Bar Association to revisit this issue and possibly commence the process of legal reform in this area.
I believe that most foreign law firms do not want to practise local law. Their primary interest is in providing support to their foreign clients in relation to (usually cross-border) commercial transactions involving the target jurisdiction. This should give Nigerian law firms some comfort. Our experience is that collaboration with these international law firms is usually synergetic, not parasitic.
Challenges of legal practice
Nigerian lawyers are currently in competition not only with their Nigerian peers but also with the international law firms. Nigerian lawyers are under increased pressure from clients to provide more cost effective services and are facing rapid technological changes. The key to surviving and thriving in this environment is to develop specialist capacity in various sectors and industries, to become more innovative and to adapt to change.
On conference logistics and location
Lagos was chosen as the venue for the 11th Annual Business Law Coference Conference in order to join Lagos State in celebrating its 50th Anniversary.
Given that Lagos is a bustling business hub, we have taken logistics into consideration in planning this event, which is reflected in the choice of venue and the timing of events. Initial registration will commence on Sunday, 18th June between 12-6pm, and will continue on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th June between 7-9am.
In view of our strategic planning, along with the support and goodwill of our sponsors and partners, it is expected that there will be a huge turnout at the 2017 Conference and that we will have a very successful Conference.
DR. ADEOYE ADEFULU
Partner, Odunjirin & Adefulu
On the development of Nigeria’s legal sector
The relationship between the law and the wider economy is a symbiotic one. Economic growth provides increased opportunities for the legal sector and the development of the legal sector helps to deepen the quality of services offered to local businesses and foreign investors. From a practical point of view, as the profession continues to develop, we expect investors to be less reliant on counsel from their home countries in terms of legal work in Nigeria.
As legal systems and the practice of law continue to evolve globally, what sort of growth opportunities should we be looking at after engagements and a discourse such as this?
There are a few areas of growth we expect to see over the next few years. Firstly, as the Nigerian economy gets more sophisticated, the nature of the work requested of legal professionals will get more complex. Such complex work will not remain the reserve of just a few firms and there will be demand from a much wider circle. This requires smaller firms to develop a broader set of skills and the capacity to handle these transactions.
Secondly, we also see growth in terms of numbers. As the economy grows, we expect much more work for Nigerian lawyers. Thirdly, the export of Nigerian goods and services to other parts of Africa will require Nigerian law firms to support their clients in these countries.
On the future of legal practice
When you look at the global landscape of legal practice over the last twenty-five years, you will observe that there has been a massive change. Large law firms with global offices across Europe, America and Asia, the abandonment of the partnership as the only model for organizing legal services, and investment of non-lawyers into legal services are some of the trends noted. Whilst the nature of practice in Nigeria has not changed as dramatically over that period, we are beginning to see small changes, which we expect to be more dramatic in the near future. In developing our theme for this year’s conference, our focus was to draw up a vision of what legal practice is expected to look like in the future and to help develop strategies to shape that future. As I mentioned earlier, by developing ourselves, the legal profession is in a better position to make a better contribution to the Nigerian economy.
About the business law conferences
Typically, the themes for NBA-SBL conferences address important and current topical issues. This year however, our approach is different. Our focus is on an overarching theme, which provides the foundation for us to build for the future as a profession.