By Innocent Anaba

In its determined effort  to ensure that young lawyers are properly integrated to the mainstream law practice after leaving schools as well as curb the feeling of alienation from the scheme of legal practices, a Law training firm, The Law Event  in collaboration with the Young Lawyers Forum of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, has planned the first national conference for young lawyers in Nigeria.

The two-day conference, slated for  Muson Centre, Lagos, will hold from  July 15 and 16, 2010. The conference will feature exhibitions, plenary and break_out sessions to examine critical issues centered around ways to empower young Nigerian lawyers for career excellence through exposure to global best practises within the context of indigenous expertise.

On the forth coming conference, the Director of  The Law Event, which is facilitating the event, Mr. Seyi Akinwumi,  said, the conference will address the different challenges faced by young lawyers ranging from the desire to be a part of a particular firm and understanding of how to fit into a practice and ascend toward partnership.

According to him,  participants would be drawn from various campuses of the Nigerian Law Schools, law departments of Nigerian Universities, and lawyers below six years of practise.

He added that the Lagos State Governor, Mr  Babatunde Fashola, SAN and Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State and the Director – General of the Law school, Dr. Tahir Mamman are expected to grace the occasion.

He expressed concern  that the interest of young lawyers have been neglected for a long time in the highly competitive world which the legal profession has become, adding that  TLE’s timely intervention has provided a constructive avenue to engage their mentors on career, skills development and other current issues in the legal profession.

He also said the forum will ensure successful transition of young lawyers from being student to the actual law practice, since their principals seemed to have no time to teach them.

While commending the DG of the law school for the new law school curriculum, which made the teaching o law to be more practical, Akinwumi called on law lecturers to pay more attention practical aspect of law than they are currently doing.

Some of the topics slated for the workshop, he said, include, the role of a young lawyer in the firm/duties of in-house counsel, giving value to get greater value, the art of billing among others.