No Law Bars A Legal Practitioner In Salaried Employment From Appearing In Court As Advocate — Court Rules

Hon. Justice Isaac Essien of the National Industrial Court, sitting in Makurdi on January 23 ruled that no law bars a Legal Practitioner in salary employment from appearing in court as advocate to represent the interest of his or her clients.

Justice Essien delivered the ruling in suit Number NICN/MKD/96/2020 filed by Comrade Ngodoo Toryem & One Other V Nigerian Civil Service Union, Benue Chapter & Three Others.

The defendant in the suit had engaged the Legal services of Barr. Ambrose A. Ikpa a Principal Special Assistant to the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom on Legal Matters to represent the 1st, 2nd,3rd and 4th Defendants in the suit prompting Counsel to the 5 Defendants to raise a Notice of preliminary objection challenging the competence of A. A. Ikpa, Esq to appear for the defendants sequel to the Legal wheel clog that he is currently in the employment of the Benue State Government where he draws salaries and even an official Gac sport car to credit. Counsel to the Claimants premised the strength of his preliminary objection on Rule 8 of the rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners which provides that; “A lawyer, whilst a servant or in a salaried employment of any kind, shall not appear as advocate in a court or judicial tribunal for his employer except where the lawyer is employed as a legal officer in a Government department.” or “A lawyer, whilst a servant or in a salaried employment, shall not prepare, sign, or frank pleadings, applications, instruments, agreements, contracts, deeds, letters, memoranda, reports, legal opinion or similar instruments or processes or file any such document for his employer.”

Counsel to the Claimants further contended that by the above provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners in Nigeria, Mr Ambrose Ikpa lacks ground to appear in Court as advocate on behalf of his Clients except for the purpose of discharging such duties for his employer who is his paymaster and in this case he is not a legal officer as contemplated by the law and urge the court to so hold.

Responding to the the notice of preliminary objection of ground of fact and law, Mr Ikpa contended that Counsel to the Claimants has only read the extant Provisions of Rules Conduct for Legal Practitioners in Nigeria only to the extent that suit his case. He assumes without conceding that the Rules do not allow him profess his profession only to the extent that he cannot while serving in salary employment. That the law only places restrictions on him from preparing, signing, or frank pleadings, applications, instruments, agreements, contracts, deeds, letters, memoranda, reports, legal opinion or similar instruments or processes or file any such document in favour of his employer, but no law within the context of Rule 8 of the Rules of Professional Conduct forbids him from appearing for the defendants in the instance case, Ikpa further urged the Honourable Court to discountenance the invalid submissions of Counsel to the Claimants as being too elementary in law.

In his ruling, Hon. Justice Isaac Essien held inter alia that he has carefully perused the provisions of Rule 8(1)(2) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 and finds the arguments of A. A. Ikpa, Esq as being valid on the the strength that while a Legal Practitioner , whilst a servant or in a salaried employment of any kind, shall not appear as advocate in a court or judicial tribunal for his employer except where the lawyer is employed as a legal officer in a Government department or shall not prepare, sign, or frank pleadings, applications, instruments, agreements, contracts, deeds, letters, memoranda, reports, legal opinion or similar instruments or processes or file any such document for his employer, the law did not in any way contemplate any restriction on any lawyer appearing for his clients other than his employer or as law officer and accordingly ruled that A. A. Ikpa, Esq a Principal Special Assistant to the Governor of Benue State on legal matters has the right of audience before him to defend the interest of the the defendants in the instance case.