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On the 18th of last month, David Hundeyin, wrote a nice piece titled “Why do Nigerians still study law? In the article, Hundeyin, compared the law degree to an investment that has turned out to be a bubble, due to the fact that many lawyers after spending lots of time and money in earning a law degree sometimes garnishing it with an LLM end up ,in his words, “unemployed, underemployed and ridiculously underpaid”.
Continuing he added, “in the job market of today, a 19-year-old with an SSCE certificate, an online nano-degree in Python and six months of remote experience as a developer will be significantly more employable and better remunerated than a 31-year-old with an LLB and an LLM”. Despite this sorry state lawyers allegedly find themselves, Hundeyin is still surprised why, in his words, “naïve teenagers and pushy parents all over the country are still putting down “law” on JAMB forms”. In concluding, he suggested it was ripe to “short the bubble and try something new”.
He advised that “when making the most important investment decision of a young adult’s life – post-secondary education – students and their parents must first of all analyse the job market to make an informed decision about what to fill in on that JAMB form….it also means that Nigerians must focus now on practical skills over high-sounding degree certificates”.
Within a short time from publication, in my opinion, this article became viral on Law blogs, different WhatsApp group for lawyers etc. On WhatsApp, it was shared on many platforms by even non-lawyers. Personally, friends and relatives sent it to me. I had no option than to read the article. When I read the article, I quickly appreciated the literally wit of Hundeyin, indeed, his degree in Creative Writing and Media, Culture & Society was a good investment. At first, I agreed with everything he said, but when I re-read it, I gradually began to highlight some hasty generalisations and wrong premises.
Another source of worry for me, was that in all the groups where this article was shared, no lawyer objected or had a contrary view, infact, many applauded the article as being the gospel truth.
Indeed, this quick acceptance of the article and the inability of many lawyers to see its flaws, acknowledges the fact, that the article struck a chord with many lawyers, which is, the inadequate welfare packages.
Even though Hundeyin’s article is titled, “Why do Nigerians still study law?” I doubt he really undertook a rigorous, historical and holistic search into finding out the “Why”, because if he did, his article would have come out differently by finding out other reasons apart from the “investment’ reason, this imbalance is actually the Achilles heel of his beautifully written article.
Hundeyin’s submissions in his article, will be absolutely right, if the only or major reason people undertook legal education was for pecuniary reasons. Indeed, the article makes it seem as if the “poor welfare” is a new phenomenon or a detail that was hidden from the public. It wasn’t.
From time immemorial the role of an advocate hasn’t been solely or majorly for material wellbeing, law has been synonymous to service, the black robe lawyers wear even signifies this. Behind the robe, there is a piece of triangular cloth attached to the left shoulder, often described as violin shaped. The cloth was a sack where clients and well-wishers could put ex-gratia payment, after a lawyer’s advocacy in court.
This was the way a lawyer could “earn” his fees since clients were not paying. Similar story applies in Nigeria where many older lawyers will narrate how they were paid professional fees in form of cash crops etc, most times not being sufficient or adequate to be professional fee. Even in recent times, we lawyers are forced out of necessity to provide numerous pro-bono services.
More than monetary “investment”, many teenagers and parents – who aren’t naïve and pushy as Hundeyin may have us think – look at other investment such as investment in service, relevance, trust, prestige, respect, honour etc.
If it was purely monetary investment, why do professionals with 3 or 4 degrees yearn to have a law degree? In fact, just some years ago, we had an 80-year-old man who was called to the Bar.
Speaking from a personal example, if I and my parents were looking at the pecuniary benefits that would have come out from investing in my legal education, I would not have been a lawyer, as the family friends who were lawyers or my parent’s lawyers were not well off financially than my parents. If they wanted “investments”, my parents and many other parents would have sent us to Alaba International Market, or Ladipo which have produced many billionaires. They had more in mind.
Also, Hundeyin seems to overlook the fact that many lawyers are not the first lawyers in their families, many have parents, siblings and relatives who are lawyers who are obviously aware of the “bubble” in investing in the law degree, why aren’t they discouraging their loved ones from undergoing a path that will allegedly lead them to despair? Cleary, there’s more to this than meets the eye’
As highlighted above, Hundeyin failed to consider other reasons, why a law degree is sought. I will do him the honour of providing some.
Firstly, a law degree unlike other profession is like a big fishing net, it provides wider opportunities for lawyers, it makes it easier for a lawyer to work comfortably even in non-legal professions as a human resource, journalism, compliance, public relation, writer, international relations etc. So, when a parent advises his/her child in the art class to have a law degree and not necessarily specialize in the other Art, it’s a decision made out of goodwill to give the child more opportunities.
Also, a law degree comes with high self-esteem and respect, many people not only in Nigeria but around the world respect lawyers even if the lawyers account is red. The legal profession comes with a certain nobility and class which most people want to partake in. Moreso, even those that don’t practice law or earn their livelihood from law, still want to identity that they are lawyers.
In relevance, a lawyer shares many things in common with other professionals who serve, such as doctors and teachers, these professionals are of more relevance and impact and are needed more. For example, I have no doubt that an IT guy with no university degree will earn far more than me, I know this from first-hand experience in reviewing numerous labour agreement for them. That’s exactly my point, while they need me directly to review their contracts and provide legal advice on other issues like Intellectual Property (IP) etc, I literally don’t need them for anything, apart from my professional fees, same goes for teachers and doctors. Society needs the services of lawyers, doctors, Religious leaders and teachers, more than they need society.
Moreso, the legal education of a lawyer is rich and vast, lawyers when well-groomed are skilled in oratory, literary prowess, history, analytical and logical reasoning, eye for details etc. These are “skills” many parents desire their kids to acquire.
While agreeing with Hundeyin, that lawyers are unpaid, it’s a detail which is not unknown to the lawyers, even if Hundeyin goes around to speak at career days of schools and tells them that lawyers are underpaid etc, many students will not budge, not because they will think Hundeyin is lying but because they have other things they have in mind.
Another important “why” that Hundeyin missed is, why are lawyers underpaid? Like I have mentioned above, this isn’t a new phenomenon. Apart from the human wickedness and greed, many senior lawyers posit that they are merely transferring the treatment they got from their erstwhile senior colleagues. Also, unlike other professions, law is a profession whereby with moonlighting, a lawyer can earn money sometimes from the comfort of his/her laptop.
Many employees know this and this is a one major reason militating against proper and “dignified” pay. Some employers say that, lawyers through “Private/Personal Practice (PP)” sometimes with the use of the employer’s facilities and work hours earn personal money and they can’t allow the employees have it both ways. While this may be exploited by the employers, many employee lawyers are not left undaunted, to augment their income, many lawyers have taken side hustles, some write, sing, paint, manage event, etc the list can go on and on.
Indeed, the non-monetary value many people render and receive by being lawyers outweighs the “return on investment”, this is the reason why Nigerians still study law.
J.B NWACHUKWU
