THE CHARGE AND BAIL LAWYER
Is Charge and Bail “Lawyering” really such a bad thing? I think not. Why then do we deride – fellow colleagues and the general public alike – those we call charge and bail Lawyers? Charge and bail Lawyers as we cast them exist in one form or the other in every jurisdiction. They are indeed very popular in the United States and they are euphemistically referred to as “ambulance chasers” on account of their pursuit of accident victims and claims. But whatever happened to the respectable use of the words ‘accident claim lawyers’ instead of ambulance chasing? Old prejudices may be? This therefore is not peculiar to Nigeria.
Without going into the nebulous concept of ethics, why don’t we look at the substantiality of the Charge and bail Lawyer in the circumstances of Nigeria. For example, is what he does substantial? Does he meet a need in Society? Does he add value to Criminal Justice Administration? Does he advance the purposes and the spirit of Constitutional provisions? Overall, does the Charge and bail Lawyer advance the cause of criminal justice administration in Nigeria or does he impede it?
Now the motto of the National umbrella body of Lawyers admitted to practice law in Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association is “promoting the rule of law”. Does the Charge and bail Lawyer do this? Yes the Charge and bail Lawyer is on the streets doing this every day, every week, every month and every year whilst so called policy formulators and vested interests continue to hold meaningless conferences and seminars that do nothing to advance or promote the rule of law.
Anyone who understands how the Magistrates courts work and who appreciates that the bulk of the criminal cases; save capital offences are tried at the Magistrates courts will soon realize that the Charge and bail Lawyer meets a great need in Society. There are usually the “overnight cases” – roughly meaning persons charged to court as soon as they are arrested or apprehended in the course of committing a crime - usually crimes like stealing, larceny, burglary, housebreaking and the like. Most of these accused persons are usually small time and poor. They cannot afford ‘big shot’ lawyers and many times their families and relatives are even unaware of their arrest and subsequent arraignment.
These accused persons are by Constitutional provisions entitled to bail upon arraignment in Court but a Lawyer has to apply for their bail, otherwise they are remanded in prison custody. This is where the Charge and bail Lawyer comes in handy. The Charge and bail Lawyer secures the bail of the accused person with little or no fees paid yet and with minimum fuss. He perfects the bail, secures the release of the accused and hopes that he earns some fees when the family or relatives of the accused persons are located. The Charge and bail Lawyer is usually much more efficient and effectual in doing this because he knows and understands the terrain well. He may or may not go on to represent the accused person at trial but for the immediate needs of the accused person, his invaluable work is done. For me there can be no greater act of Charity in the legal profession than this!!
Looking critically at the above scenario, the Charge and bail Lawyer has met the need of the accused for legal representationa Lawyer, his freedom pending trial guaranteed by the Constitution has been secured, an act of charity has been performed and the criminal justice administration has been enhanced as the prisons have been decongested. No one can sincerely argue that this is not substantial. Juxtapose this with what the so called big shot lawyer does. At that very moment when the Charge and bail Lawyer is advancing the cause of the Constitution, humanity and human rights by his learning, the big shot lawyer, what the Great novelist of the 20th Century, the Italian American, who penned the monster novel, ‘The Godfather’, Mario Puzo will call “pessonovante”, is probably busy drafting articles of impeachment in his highbrow, cozy and affluent office that will throw his home State of the Federation or another into chaos. A bit more altruistic, he may be working on an appellate brief for a multinational, a meaningless brief to massage egos and send a so called message to some other party; in it only for the ‘big money’ type for all you care. And he will afterwards deride the Charge and bail Lawyer!!
But then, who is the Charge and bail Lawyer anyway? The Charge and bail Lawyer – to some ‘Resident’ Lawyer – will more often than not be found around or in the precincts of one of the numerous Magistrates courts in Nigeria, especially in the big cities willing and ready to represent and avail his services to anyone who may require them and yet are usually unable to pay or pay full value for the services rendered. The Charge and bail Lawyer is often a creation of circumstances – chances are that when he left Law School he was unable to find any Lawyer to employ him, those who will employ him are unable or unwilling to pay him a dime and there will be numerous Seniors who will impress it upon him that he is still learning the trade and as such will only be entitled to some stipend; still others will regale him with tales of how the big lawyers of the day started small and how we all start small and why he should start small.
Do not get me wrong. I have no qualms with starting small. To the glory of God, I and my Partners started small. Starting small might well be right and even biblical but this profession of ours must take a second, hard and critical look at itself on this score. The disparity between the haves and the have not in this profession is so wide that about the richest professional in Nigeria today is a Lawyer and the poorest one is probably also a Lawyer. We see this everyday and are reluctant or unwilling to do something about it. This is unacceptable and sure the NBA must have the wherewithal to do something about this unpalatable state of affairs. Its fruits are already evident. Many small firms with ill equipped lawyers are springing up everywhere and you cannot blame them because those who cannot find work, where they will learn and earn will have to survive somehow.
In the meantime whilst the Charge and bail Lawyer is pounding the streets searching for a firm to employ him in his early days, bills are mounting, he is probably squatting with one distant cousin or a kinsman in one remote area of town and in a shabby small space to boot. He is usually unable to afford an office space. The poor parents or an Uncle and in some cases I have seen, even whole communities who paid his way through University and Law School will not wait forever for the fruits of their labour. They expect him and rightly so to help them and shoulder some accrued responsibility and their patience will soon wear thin. What then can a man do in the circumstances? This often, is the dilemma of the Charge and bail Lawyer and that been so, I will hesitate to deride him for doing the job he does especially as it is one that advances the cause of Society.
In the circumstances, I think the time is about right for the profession to acknowledge the Charge and bail Lawyer, accept who he is and what he does as a necessary component of the Magistrates courts system and as complementary to the administration of criminal justice in Nigeria. A starting point I think is to bring a structure into what the Charge and bail Lawyer does. Bring some dignity into it. Take the unedifying out of it. Change his nomenclature. Call him a ‘Resident’ Lawyer or Lawyers in ‘Residence’ if you will. Provide an office space, a common room or whatever furnished with some sort of Library at the Magistrates courts for them and encourage them to standardize their operations and pronto we might well be opening up a new vista of opportunity for young lawyers to find work and grow – unintended consequences though. Come to think of it; how many Lawyers can the big law firms in Nigeria absorb? It is also not lost on anyone that the National economy is not robust enough to gainfully engage the thousand Lawyers the Nigerian Law School churn out every year.
I am often scandalized when I hear some Lawyers who I think ought to know better disparage their colleagues as ‘Charge and bail Lawyers’ to prospective clients - even though they know that the so called Charge and bail Lawyer may have some other specialized skill to offer - without realizing that they are also diminishing themselves and denigrating their cherished profession in the process for they do not know that in all, the work the Charge and bail Lawyer does is essential to the dispensation of criminal justice, that he ought to be appreciated or shown sympathy in deserving cases and not derided. That he serves his country by advancing the purposes of the Constitution, that he promotes the rule of law and helps ensure respect for the fundamental and human rights of citizens.
Stephen O. Obajaja Esq. is a Partner at the Lagos Law Firm of Fountain Court Partners.
STEPHEN O. OBAJAJA
Fountain Court Partners
Block 36B, LSPDC Estate
Ogudu Road
Ojota – Lagos.
08052066172.
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