The inaugural Outlook for Legal Practice Forum on “Aligning Legal Services with Client Expectations” was held at Protea Hotel Ikoyi on 11 March 2010. With sponsorship from British American Tobacco Nigeria, Funmi Oyefuga (director, mbalegalpractice) brought together about 50 lawyers to look at that crucial relationship between lawyers and their clients.

A short video recorded with Sade Morgan, Area Head of Legal, British American Tobacco Nigeria and Soji Awogbade, Partner, Aelex set the direction for the discussion led by a panel which consisted of Poju Adedeji, Legal & Compliance Director - Africa Region, Baker Hughes, Oghogho Akpata, Managing Partner, Templars/Dayo Okusami, Partner, Templars, Segun Osuntokun, Partner, Banking Disputes, Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP and Oghenerume Rotimi, General Manager Commercial, Legal MTN Nigeria Communications.

Read the summary of introductory interviews with Sade Morgan and Soji Awogbade

Speaking from the perspective of the private practice lawyer, Soji Awogbade said that clients don’t always have knowledge of the lawyer’s ability to deliver a service to them and it is therefore for the lawyer to convince clients that he is able to deliver a service by demonstrating that he understands the turf in which they play, the issues they bring and the industry setting in which they operate. The business man is looking for a business solution which requires the lawyer to think outside the box and advise on alternative methods of achieving the same goals the client deposits on the table. The lawyer must empathise with clients in a way that relaxes them without taking over their problems, show a keenness to assist, and distinguish the service i.e. in the way it is delivered, the timeliness in which it is delivered and the quality of what is delivered. On her part, Sade Morgan said that as in house counsel lawyers have a fantastic opportunity for growth because of the variety of work there is to get involved in but they have to always remember that they are business people. She described how the in house legal function at BAT has identified everything they do that adds value to the business so that and everything else is outsourced. Stressing that what is expected from external counsel is expert technical advice given in a way that is aligned to what the business objectives are, she said external lawyers need to understand who the client is and the regulatory context in which they operate and pitch advice to the client in that context as opposed to just taking a pure legal technical position. 

On what has changed in legal practice in recent years, Soji Awogbade said that the scale of business transaction in Nigeria has ballooned in the last 5-10 years with transactions frequently requiring up to 30 lawyers to carry out due diligence and transaction checks so the capacity to deliver those numbers is becoming an important issue. Also, Nigerian lawyers are beginning to get into transactions for international clients in a meaningful way, not just putting finishing touches to transactions worked on by international lawyers. Such that the expectation of clients is that an international quality of service will be delivered. With turn around time and cost becoming important and with lawyers in Nigeria better remunerated now than they were in the past an there is now a requirement for specialized skills to confront the skills available to the counter-parties that clients deal with internationally. As a result, he concluded that on the job and other training is increasingly important if Nigerian lawyers are to continue to acquire the skills that clients are looking for. It is important to upscale on equipment and make use of technologies like video conferencing in order to compete and lead internationally.

On what has changed in legal practice in recent years, Sade Morgan pointed out that in house counsel have had to become relevant and give advice that is useful, beneficial and that adds value in order not to be sidelined. Using the example from the BAT global legal function which has coined the phrase “legal means business”, she pointed out that as lawyers operating at the centre of the business, in house lawyers need to understand all the aspects of the business: what the marketing, operations and distribution structures and functions are. The implication for external counsel is that technical expertise has become a given so that practical sound business advice based on the practice in the operating environment and the legal framework in that environment is what is paramount.

According to Sade Morgan, to assist external counsel her department works closely with them on strategy review, scenario planning and agreeing mile stones in order to get to the interventions that external counsel can bring in to play to achieve BAT’s objectives. In her view, where there is a gap and possibly an opportunity is to set up a forum, maybe on a quarterly basis to get the other parts of the organisation that are key to the legal function to get them to meet with the in house team and their external counsel to give them an opportunity to understand more about the business because she says the more you understand the client’s business, the better the quality of advice you can give an the support you provide. Soji Awogbade said that in his experience, clients best assist their lawyers by bringing them in early, explaining their goals clearly to the lawyer and supporting the process throughout the service delivery timeline. He concluded that it is important for in house counsel to ensure they are on the same page with external counsel because time does not allow for the repair of the damage that could result if they are not. 

Read the report of the themes discussed by the panel