Nepal

Nepal is one of the very few countries in the world that
actually has a six-day working week. Their official working days
are Sunday – Friday, meaning Saturday is the only official day of
rest. On average, the country works 48 hours per week.

Malaysia

Southeast Asian country Malaysia has some regions that also work
the week of Sunday – Thursday. These regions include Johor, Kedah,
Kelantan, and Terengganu. On average, the country works 40 hours
per week.

United Arab Emirates

UAB is another country that only recently changed to a different
working week of Sunday – Thursday. In fact, most Muslim countries
in the Middle-Eastern region conform to this working week after
Jordan was one of the first Arab countries to do so in 2000. Ever
since, most surrounding countries decided to follow suit. On
average, UAB works 45 hours per week – that’s 9 hours per day.

Iran

Iran is another country that works a 6 day week. The usual
working week is from Saturday – Thursday, meaning Friday is the
only official day of rest. On average, the country works 45 hours
per week. That’s 8 hours per day, except Thursday in which you only
work 5 hours.

Apart from a few, the majority of countries that work on Sundays
are located in the middle-eastern area. With Saudi Arabia changing
to this working week in 2013, it looks as though this isn’t going
to change anytime soon. If you really think about it, it can’t be
too different – you still get a two day weekend, just not Sunday.
How peculiar.

*The current state of legal education in Nigeria is
anachronistic and designed to train lawyers whose only world view
of a lawyer is the one who goes to the courts – NBA President,
Olumide Akpata
*Build Personal and professional brand. Be focused, diligent,
authentic and honest in life and career – Prof. Konyin Ajayi,
SAN
*To rise from the lowest position to a partner in a law firm, you
need to be knowledgeable, have skills of client management and
ability to supervise juniors and bring income to the firm – Wale
Akoni, SAN
*law students should develop the habit of expressing themselves in
social media as that can get them clients even before graduation –
Inemesit Dike

Renowned Lawyers have advised young wigs and law students to
seek knowledge, build brands and be tech savvy. They gave this
advice during the 2020 Annual Young Wigs Conference organized by
the CEO of The Legal Concierge, Inemesit Joy Dike, which held on
December 12 at Eko Hotel and Suites and was streamed
live on YouTube
The Young Wigs Conference is an annual event aimed at orientating
young lawyers, students of the Nigerian Law School, 4th and 5th
year students of law faculties in Nigeria and other interested
persons on What Law School Doesn’t Teach this bridging the gap
between theoritical knowledge of law and practical aspects of legal
practice.

At the 2020 hybrid event, there were many renowned Senior Legal
Practitioners physically and virtually present including the
President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olumide Akpata;
Prof. Konyinsola Ajayi, SAN who was represented by a Senior
Associate at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, Mr. Joba Akinola; Mr. Wale Akoni,
SAN; Mrs. Mabel Ekeke, and Mr. Orowhuo Okocha while circa Five
thousand young lawyers and Law Student participated online.

Joba Akinola delivered key note speech on behalf of Prof. Konyin
on the theme: “Legacy: What Law School Doesn’t Teach”. Prof. Konyin
encouraged young wigs to build personal and professional brands.
According to him, “What is called a brand when you are alive is
what will be called a legacy when you are no more.”

Prof. Konyin, who is the Managing Partner of Olaniwun Ajayi LP,
noted that building a brand is a daily exercise, not a one day
event. Giving tips on how to build brand, he said, “First, you must
be focused and deliberate about the brand you want to create. You
cannot be everything to everyone but you must decide who and what
you want you want to be first as that will shape everything else
all these steps you are going to take and all the actions and
decisions you are going to make.

“The second thing is that you must be genuine and authentic.
Integrity is critical in life as it is in career, not least in the
legal career…The third thing is you should be consistent and
diligent….”

He urged young lawyers to use every opportunity they have to
“create positive impact because whilst your legacy will be seen as
the sum total of your impact, from the perspective of people you
deal with, what you did for them and how you made them feel may be
the full picture of your legacy”

The Learned Silk acknowledged that things are not rosy in the
country as corruption, lawlessness and impunity have become order
of the day thus rendering the country as the poverty capital of the
world despite having tremendous human and other resources

He therefore urged the young wigs to strive for collective
legacy instead of individual legacy and to participate in nation
building just like Nehemiah did in the Bible.

“It does not suffice anymore to just know the law and read the
cases, know how to file motions and affidavits, know how to prepare
tenancy agreements. But no! Whilst all of that is fine and good,
much more is required by those you serve. In this society that is
evolving and progressing: business, finance, technology, strategy,
these and more you must master.” he said.

On
his part, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association Mr. Olumide
Akpata, called for the review of the system of legal education in
Nigeria both at the Law Faculties and the Law School as they both
constitute the critical stages of any legal training. He said, the
current state of legal education in Nigeria “is anachronistic and
designed to train lawyers whose only world view of a lawyer is the
one who goes to the courts.”

He lamented that the system has been producing lawyers versed in
motions and affidavits but with little or no knowledge of practical
know-how of other areas of practice. “This knowledge gap has
created an intrusion of other professionals in the legal market
place competing for what otherwise should be work for lawyers” he
said

Akpata said his core mandate for the NBA is to champion a
structured reformation of the system of legal education in Nigeria
that will produce knowledgeable, competent, sound and ethically
conscious lawyers. He added that the commitment remains solid and
is at the heart of his welfare program

He said by first quarter of 2021 he will “convene a State of the
Legal Education Summit at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti,
to address all of the issues militating against legal education in
Nigeria.”

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association also commended The
Legal Concierge on the amazing work that has been done over the
past five years at changing this narrative and firmly committed to
working with the organisation to further solidify the organisations
goals at charting a path that leads young lawyers to career
fulfillment and to position them for leadership in the country.

As a panelist that discussed the topic: The Olympic Torch of
Legal Business, Mr. Wale Akoni, SAN, the Managing Partner of
Babalakin & Co., urged young lawyers to have mentors. He
acknowledged that irrespective of his achievements, he still has
mentors who are retired judges, businessmen, Senior Advocates of
Nigeria and the like.

According to him, the most important thing for a new wig to
invest in is knowledge acquisition. He said that is why in his law
firm, the task to be given to you in the first few weeks of your
stay is to study the Evidence Act, the Rules of Courts and the
constitution.

On technology, Akoni said it cannot take over or make work of
lawyers difficult as insinuated by certain schools of thought.
According to him, as far human beings are alive, use of the human
brain must always be required. He said young lawyers should not
focus on how technology will change or make things difficult for
them. “Let us see how we can adopt it and adapt it. We need to
understand the technology itself and see how well we can use it to
make our jobs easier.” he said

On how one can rise from new staff to a partnership of a top law
firm, Akoni said such person needs to be knowledgeable and have
client management skills. Because, according to him, if you fail a
client the client is likely not to come back again and the
possibility that he will demarket you before other potential
clients to discourage them from coming to the firm is there. He
added that the ability to supervise juniors and bring income to the
firm is also an important consideration.

On her part, Mrs. Mabel Ekeke, a Senior Associate at Babalakin &
Co. emphasized on the importance of mentorship. She said her firm
offered her the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants.
She gets to interact with partners of the firm whom she described
as “the finest and most brilliant legal minds” on daily basis and
that has helped her to acquire a wealth of knowledge over the
years.

Furthermore, she hailed social media for making it easier to
follow happenings in the society and urged young lawyers to be
active on it. However, she advised that they should be careful on
the brand they put out there. It will never go away and can come
back to haunt them if not used wisely. She said one has to be
intentional about branding.

The convener of the event, Inemesit Joy Dike, Esq in her welcome
address explained that this year marks the 5th anniversary of the
Young Wigs Conference which has always been free to attendees. She
said the idea of the conference was birthed in 2016 when courts in
Rivers State were down for almost a year and there was need to find
different ways of engaging in legal practice. She also said her
experience when she was called to the Bar in New York also inspired
her to make a difference in her home country – Nigeria. She said
she noticed that in the US and other Western countries “technology
in legal practice was as easy as ABC” this there was a huge gap
between the practical realities of legal practice and the way it
was taught in Law School.

This inspired the launch of a product called Legal X Africa
which acts like UBER where clients can access and choose any lawyer
based on the lawyers rations as well as upfront knowledge of the
cost of the legal service BEFORE payment! Legal X Africa would also
afford lawyers to practice law from the comfort of their home and
even highlight their chosen areas of specialization. Nigerian
Lawyers in diaspora were encouraged to register as they can
continue to practice law irrespective of being away from home and
having their respective profile.

Legal X Africa and many pre-recorded sessions on niche areas of
law have been made available via the The Legal Concierge website
www.thelegalconcierge.org.

Mrs. Inemesit Dike thanked the speakers and panelists for
sparing time out of their busy schedule to make it to the
event.