You are known as the foremost Insolvency and Bankruptcy practitioner in Nigeria. What got you interested in this area of practice? And what did you do to become the expert that you are today?

I got in by coincidence. I have always thought about buying businesses, adding value and selling for profit; for some reason I have always thought about that for ages and I didn’t know what it entailed or anything. But one day when I started out practice I did a receivership matter for NIDB and found it extremely interesting. I did about three more of those sometime in 1987 and that was it. Suddenly when we started Akinwumi & Busari we got a call from UBA trustees asking us to get an injunction for them on a matter which turned out to be an insolvency matter – a very big receivership. The original plan was to get an injunction but the matter sort of grew up to 17 cases in court. It included meetings with trade unions, workers, polices, insurance, the whole gamut. And we’ve been doing that matter in one way or the other for over 10 years. That matter itself was with regard to 5 star industries and acting for UBA Trustees – trustees to 17 banks. It was an MA in insolvency for me and boiled my interests and revived my earlier thoughts on business. Since then I have been involved in one way or the other in over 200 insolvency matters.

With the present economic climate, a lot of young lawyers would be interested in Insolvency and Bankruptcy practice. What do they have to do or what particular qualifications are necessary to be an Insolvency Lawyer?

At the moment, the law allows anybody to practise insolvency, except those excluded specifically by law – the legally underage, insane, and bankrupt. Therefore there isn’t any specialization yet. My advice would be that they equip themselves with the law of secured credit because that is at the heart of insolvency. We are hoping as an association (BRIAPAN) to start workshops and training sessions in the next few years we believe we will be in a position where we can organise pre-qualification exams for young persons who want to leave school and become insolvency practitioners whether they are lawyers or not as happens in other jurisdictions At the moment they could come to our workshops or do a Masters in secured credit.

By the way, The Law Event is going to organise later in the year, a course or programme known as “So You want to specialize” and the idea is that various specialist lawyers could talk to young lawyers about how to specialize in veracious fields. There would be Insolvency practitioners there who would also speak about insolvency.

Could you please give a brief description of what insolvency and bankruptcy is all about?

In brief, insolvency essentially in the case of corporate insolvency is pretty straight forward in Nigeria because that’s what most people know. This is where an individual (corporation) is unable to meet its financial obligations and therefore in the case of an individual is deemed bankrupt and in a corporation insolvent. In some jurisdictions, bankruptcy is used to describe both but in the UK there’s that differentiation.

The bankruptcy law in Nigeria is quite elaborate and what doesn’t make it work is not just the law itself which obviously needs some tweaking, but more of the culture and the reluctance of those that are in the position to declare people bankrupt to do so. This has a lot to do with our culture and the extended family system. With corporate insolvency it is much easier because for one, you owe and the person being owed has no problem demanding for wind up.

The Company’s and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) says that if a company cannot pay N2, 000.00 (Two Thousand Naira) 21 days after a demand letter has been written, you can file a petition for winding up.

However, there are various indices from various jurisdiction and various schools of thought of what actually depicts a company as insolvent. For example, a negative balance sheet might say a person is insolvent but it may not be so; it might just be like in the case of many banks, that there’s a provision for bad loans. This doesn’t mean they cannot survive.

It could also be seen when a company is downsizing. Most people think that the fact that a Company is downsizing and letting people go means that company is insolvent but it might just be restructuring. The initial definition above was the law but it could also be used to describe other situations.

In your many years as a Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practitioner, there must have been quite a number of opportunities and challenges. Could you share some with us?

The opportunities have been essentially for me, the knowledge I have garnered and the people I have met. I have met numerous people in this job who have been beneficial to me; I wouldn’t like to mention the clients but I’ll mention 3 people, practitioners who I’ve learnt a lot from: Prince Adesubo Adetona; Prince Babington Ashaye; and Mr. Tunde Ajayi – the last one is actually an accountant and a lawyer and is my contemporary. We’ve done a lot of work together. The other 2 have been my mentors in this field of practice.

Challenges… where do I start from? I’ve had a gun to my head by the police; I’ve had a gun to my head by the owner of a company; been locked up in company premises for 24 hours; have had to learn how to deal with extreme fraudsters, and I mean EXTREME fraudsters. The challenges really have been in the latter years, with some of my clients and I have had to convince them that there is a point to restructuring instead of selling off assets. A challenge in convincing them of the need to pay all staff their entitlements before it gets to the financial institutions. I am glad to say that I have succeeded in convincing those with the guns to put their guns down; those locking me up to negotiate and banks to restructure.

The greatest problem I have encountered has been a very sad one, where through no fault of ours, there was a death at the company when one of the buildings collapsed and killed a worker. Luckily for us, we had not even taken over the premises.

Has the recent economic meltdown created more work for you?

I wonder why everybody asks that; to answer your question not necessarily. It has not created more work because there’s always been. What it has created is a new avenue of work for practitioners. This means that a lot more companies are willing to come forward and seek help; they don’t wait for the bank to take them over. So to that extent there has been a new avenue. But even the banks now are a bit wary of taking over companies and winding down; but there has been more awareness.

In October of 2008, the Legal Services Bill in the UK gained Royal assent creating the Alternate Business Structure (ABS), which allowed for the creation of multi-disciplinary legal services firms. This is a huge break from the traditional method of practising law. Do you think this is a threat to the law practice and do you foresee duplication in the Nigerian legal system?

It does threaten the profession because where you are going is the dilution of the profession, probably ultimately leading to its non existence as we know it today. The opportunities there are that you are able to go to a one-stop shop and get all your services. I personally do not think it is a good thing. I think that lawyers should be lawyers and accountants should be accountants – those are the two professions that are likely fused – you are not likely to get a doctor with a lawyer except in medical negligence. I think competencies will be diffused. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has resisted and I think they should do more to resist otherwise what happens to the Forty Thousand lawyers and our traditions? A firm which is fused will lose so many of the traditions which distinguish us as lawyers.

You are very passionate in canvassing for better legal support services in Nigeria. It is obvious that we are lacking support services for legal practitioners in various areas but could you mention one area that is particularly glaring to you and the overall effect on legal practise in Nigeria?

The main areas I see are development of the young lawyer. I’ve always thought from the first day I started practice after Law School that the Law School is inadequate. Therefore it is not by coincidence that we have pupilage in the UK. But since we don’t have that here, it is imperative that we have support services to teach the Young Lawyer what the practice of law entails. This is why the Law Events positions itself to have successful young lawyers’ trainings for mentoring.

The second area is in recruitment: a lot of time, lawyers are recruited by word of mouth and because I know the person’s father or brother, I employ him. The bigger law firms have tried to fashion out a way of interviewing and selecting but there is no formal recruitment agency that knows the need of lawyers and appreciates what is required; an agency that will also promote mergers and help with business management or management of the law firm or legal dept as a business. These areas are very fundamental because the strength of the profession is with the youth. We need more people to get involved in this.

The Law Events is an organization which offers support services to legal practitioners. What is the philosophy behind this and of what benefit is it to the young lawyer?

LE is a service company who work professionally to support the profession. One of our main focus is the Young Lawyer; we believe we need to empower, educate and strengthen the Young Lawyer in order to strengthen the profession. While we are supporting the professional we are focused a great deal on developing and training the young lawyer.

Currently we have no mega law firm in Nigeria; however, we do have some really big firms. What hope is there for the Solo Practitioner? Is the role of the Solo Practitioner gradually being eroded by these bigger law firms?

First there is no mega law firm in Nigeria. At all. I had a meeting with a law firm in the UK – White & Case a few weeks ago and in that premises alone, I think they had over 400 lawyers. The month before that I was in New York and White & Case occupied almost a whole building. I suspect they have offices in no less than eight other countries. Those are mega law firms so I don’t think we have any in Nigeria yet and it might not happen for a very long time. However we have bigger law firms by consolidation and partnerships.

There’s room for the solo because not everyone can afford the big firms. Their overhead makes their fees quite high and as a result their focus is different. One man who works as a bartender somewhere and needs to file a divorce petition – someone must do it for him. Someone must deal with the smaller issues. I think that there are various phases. The solo is a crucial aspect of the practice of law. However I think we need to grow the economy so that it can take mega law firms. There are economic and cultural limitations.

I noticed that Akinwumi & Busari is quite technologically forward, which isn’t the case with a number of law firms in Nigeria. With huge online libraries like Lexis Nexis, the internet plays an increasingly important role in effective law practise. How far behind, technologically are we in Nigeria and what should be done to help lawyers keep in tandem with global practices?

Frankly, I’m not very confident to talk about practice generally because I don’t poke into other people’s offices and many other places I go to are like mine. I went to an office a few months ago, an older lawyer who insisted we had a meeting in his office and it reminded me of an office where I did my holiday job about twenty six or twenty seven years ago where you have the main principal’s office which is bigger than the rest of the office, filled with a lot of files and a secretary with a type writer. I could not believe that in 2009 that would happen but apparently it does. Many people didn’t seem as surprised when I told them about it.

Even those of us who have these tools are not up to scratch. Recently I was teaching one of my colleagues, a respected lawyer how to mark up and make comments on a document without having to first print it. He later sent me a text message and this was what he said:

“Thanks Seyi for your training last week, I have since been able to mark up my amendments and make comments on docs without having to first print them; it has revolutionalized my lifestyle. Thanks again.”

A lot of people have computers in their office but don’t know how to use them. Most lawyers can use words. The Law Events has also assisted in training and Odade Publishers of Lexis Nexis have been very involved in training Lawyers how to research on the internet. I’ve been on that training and recommend it for all lawyers.

You seem to be a very social sort of person; open and friendly. Could you give us a glimpse into the real Seyi Akinwunmi, the man behind the lawyer?

With me, I think I work very hard but I also play quite hard and I’m an ardent football fan (a Man – U fanatic). I’m a music buff and into all genres of music except classical music and Kanye West. I love dancing. I don’t go out as much as I used to. You say I’m a social person, and yes, I have a lot of friends and socialize a lot but only when I feel like. I’m the kind of person who makes sure I go to a wedding, spend only 20 minutes but makes sure I see the couple. I am very friendly and averse to snobs. I do not like lawyers calling me SIR – especially lawyers because I believe we are all colleagues. I think I’m pretty straightforward. I try to be thorough in all my work; always willing to try out new frontiers. I see the law as a business and not a social calling. I’m married with 3 children – 2 beautiful girls and 1 handsome boy – like his father.

Finally, what is the one technological gizmo you absolutely cannot do without?

None. I hate the thought of an addiction of any kind. But if I am to pick a gadget I’d rather not live without, maybe my television during the football season

Seyi Akinwunmi: On the Recession and other Matters originally appeared on The Nigerian Lawyer on December 18, 2009. Feel free to forward to a friend.

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Boma Ozobia has always been a favourite of TNL. Sometime last year on TNL, we did a review of the book, Sisters in Law, a book she Co-authored. She is one lady who had distinguished herself in ways so numerous it is almost impossible to keep track.

A graduate of the Rivers State Univesity, she moved over to the United Kingdom to pursue a Masters at the Kings College of the Univesity of London. Despite the gender issues and the obstacles an ethnic minority had to face at that time, she overcame all that to become Senior Partner of Sterling Partnership Solicitors LLP, which was voted “Best of Southwark” in 2008. Sterling Partnership has offices in London, Paris, Lagos and Ghana.

Amongst her many accomplishments, in 2005 Boma became the first person of minority ethnic origin to become the national Chair of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) since it’s inception 83 years earlier.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure and excitement that TNL presents to you, Mrs Ozobia. Relax and peep into the mind of this beautiful lady.

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to visit with you Mrs. Ozobia. I have read several of your interviews and meeting you leaves one with the conviction that you are a principled and fair person who is overflowing with warmth. How did you get to the height of the profession and still remain true to the person you are inside?

As a professional, my focus is always on my clients – ensuring that they are given timely and appropriate advice that is relevant to the particular circumstance. Since my focus is external rather than internal, my professional competence does not impact on my individuality and interaction with people. They are entirely separate in my view, and rightly so.

You are a qualified Lawyer in Nigeria and in the UK and have practiced in both jurisdictions; what is the technological disparity between the two and how can the bridge be gapped?

We have many excellent lawyers in Nigeria as we do in England, however, the lawyers in the United Kingdom do have an advantage in the tools available to them to carry out their work. Research is very easy as most of it can be conducted online. The same applies to standard forms and precedents. In addition, there are various services lawyers can access on a subscription basis which, effectively carry out legal research for you in your chosen area of law and keep you updated on any significant changes in the law. To that extent, lawyers in the UK have an advantage. Fortunately, this is also beginning to happen in Nigeria so we hope to see that gap bridged in the near future.

To what extent have technology and the internet in particular enhanced your development as a legal practitioner?

Technology and the internet have been invaluable. I could not conduct a cross border practice without these tools, for which I am most grateful. It has also meant that I can achieve the work/life balance that would ordinarily not have been possible as I would have had to make a choice.

How successfully can a lawyer practice the profession over the internet?

The internet is a great tool and invaluable in modern day practice but there is no substitute for a personal meeting with your client. Also, the internet is not that secure, I would be very concerned about confidentiality and security of my clients’ information if all client business was conducted on the internet.

Does Sterling Partnership make use of online tools such as software-as-a-service, video conferencing, webinars and virtual assistants, to mention a few?

Yes we do. We also have a blog!

Has there been a significant reduction in your overhead and general expenses as a result?

These tools enhance productivity and mean that you do not always have to travel to attend meetings. The reduction in travel cost and time is certainly a significant saving.

What do you think are the possibilities of achieving a paperless society and do you see Nigeria as a country, eventually pulling her weight in the need to make the society as eco-friendly as possible?

I have been striving for a paperless office for years but have sadly come to accept that in this profession, at least for the time being, there is no substitute for paper in a lot of cases. Nigeria is actually a very eco-friendly nation as we recycle a huge amount. Papers, bottles, plastic, metal scrap etc are usually collected and re-cycled albeit by manual labour rather than the mechanised and organised format available in Europe.

What is your opinion of facebook.com and linkedin.com? Do you consider social networks necessary tools for any professional or are they completely superfluous?

Social networks are a great way to stay in touch, particularly with friends in far flung places. I have not used (facebook – which is the only one I have subscribed to thus far) as a professional networking tool.

And finally, could you name one gadget each, which neither you nor Sterling Partnership can do without?

Mobile telephone with a push email function – either via Mobile Express or Blackberry.

Thank you so much Mrs. Ozobia for taking this time out of your busy schedule to chat with us. You have always been a favourite of The Nigerian Lawyer and we look forward to having you here more often.

The previous spotlight was on George Etomi of George Etomi and Partners. Read the interview here.

Spotlight: Visiting with Boma Ozobia originally appeared on The Nigerian Lawyer on November 30, 2009. Feel free to forward to a friend.

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We at The Nigerian Lawyer watched in awe at the seemingly endless parade of tributes and accolades. We were in awe that such a paragon had lived amongst us, but we were even more in awe that there, in the midst of the praise singers, were some who had found him a national treasure of such significance that they had to imprison, sorry, hide him away for safety.

When the whole world and their cousins gathered at his residence, those of us who could only get close enough through the screen had to wonder, is this what Gani would have wanted? Is this how we would have wanted to go out? We do not think so. Gani was a lot of things but he was no hypocrite. He stood for what he believed in and would not keep quiet even when it was in his best interests to do so. He was radical and unapologetically so.

So now he is gone and his death is indeed a loss to Nigeria. Nevertheless, at 71(his age when he died), he would have been retiring from activism eventually. And there would have been no one to take over from him. After decades of new entrees to the numerous Law faculties across the country, it is more than a little baffling that there are not more like him considering that over the years, there have been several self-styled ‘Ganis’ posturing and postulating every chance they got. How come then, that we have not got more conscience driven lawyers who are ready to go any lengths to preserve law and order, fight injustice and uphold the cause of the down trodden? When the SSS arrested several journalists, clearly infringing on their freedom of speech and other constitutional rights, the wigs folded their arms waiting for Gani to ‘say something’. Well, Gani is gone, and to the best of our knowledge, he will not be saying much for now. Unfortunately, it does not look as though any of those who are yet to go would be saying anything as well.

If the leader of a country is the image of that country, then without a doubt, Nigeria is ill. Sadly, we do not have the option of medical treatment in another jurisdiction; the treatment of Nigeria must start with Nigerians and we daresay, with the legal profession. Until there are more people like Gani, willing to sacrifice their personal freedom so that this nation will achieve positive change, growth and development, we will continue stumbling around, a lame giant. As the custodians of the Rule of Law and servants in the Temple of Justice, it stands to reason that that clamour for change must begin with our noble profession.

Death of a Conscience originally appeared on The Nigerian Lawyer on September 20, 2009. Feel free to forward to a friend.

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The Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association is currently in progress in Lagos, Nigeria. The theme for the conference this year is Underdeveloped Nations, Failed Economies and the Future of the Legal Profession. The Nigerian Lawyer sat down to a chat with George Etomi who is the present Chairman of the NBA’s Section on Business Law and a range of subjects were discovered.

Sir, I would like to know how you got interested in Commercial law in the first place.

There was an element of chance or luck, influence and perhaps fate. Generally, I took an interest in commercial law subjects at the undergraduate level; my favourite subjects were Company Law, Law of Contracts, Equity and Trust and Insurance Law.

Then I went for a Masters’ degree at the London School of Economics where we were given six weeks to choose our areas of interest from several courses. I initially chose Company Law, Insurance, Civil Litigation and a fourth subject. We were allowed six weeks – an experimental period and we submitted the four subjects at the end of that period. I attended classes in all the four subjects but included International Economic Law and the Law of Business Taxation. At the end of the experimental period, I narrowed down my choice to Company Law, Insurance Law, International Economic Law and Law of Business Taxation; all squarely commercial law subjects.

My primary interest was to teach and I got appointed to the Faculty of Law of the University of Lagos but barely stayed there before I met Udoma (now Senator and one of my closest friends) who been teaching there for about three months before I began. He basically discouraged me from teaching and gave me the address of Chris Ogunbanjo and Co. I went there and met Chief Ogunbanjo and after the necessary interviews, I started working there.

Chris Ogunbanjo at the time, without a shadow of doubt, had the most vibrant Commercial Law practice in Nigeria. The opportunity to work directly with such a great man largely influenced my career because at Chris Ogunbanjo & Co we were exposed to the best and most esoteric areas, of Commercial Law practice. So when I left to found George Etomi & Partners (GE&P) in 1984, there was little surprise that I got stuck with Commercial law.

When you started, it was not a very popular area of practice; how was your journey? Did you face a lot of difficulties in the way?

When I started practice in 1984, Nigeria was going through a recession [these recessions have a cycle, they come and go]. At that time I did question the wisdom of leaving a secure employment to go into the field. It was not easy but first, but I had a determination not to fall below the standard I had been used to. Therefore locating my office in Ikoyi as I did was part of that determination. The rent did not come cheap; I first started by sharing a building with a dental office. I did a lot of running around because I quickly discovered that I had converted from being paid to actually paying other people. I had to go lobby for work, see it done to the highest professional standard, and get paid for it. In addition I had to administer the office. So the challenges were enormous; even NEPA did not make it easy because of the poor power situation I had to get a generator which I had not originally budgeted for. But I learnt to be resilient and formed the singular determination not to give up

It is obvious to see from your Parkview address that the hard work and determination paid off in the long run. But how long did it take to see the dividends of your labour?

It is difficult in practice to measure dividends; the determination is to stay in business. Commercial law practice is tied to the fortunes of the economy; when it booms, business booms. When there is a recession, it affects us the same way. One thing I learnt quickly in practice is that law is life and it encompasses every area of human endeavour so we find that even in difficult times e.g. recession, there is plenty of room for Insolvency practice. So it is important for Lawyers to keep reinventing themselves to stay in business. One way to benchmark how well we have done is that what started as a solo practice now has three branches including Port Harcourt and Abuja with nearly 30 lawyers spread across the practice. Of course we will continue to maintain our resolve to be relevant and to continue to adapt to the emerging global situation in relation to legal practice.

I asked the last question because most lawyers fresh out of law school dream of either earning a 5-figure salary or of making it big overnight. From your own personal experience, is this a right approach?

Wrong. Very wrong. It does not work that way. I have always advocated that we must begin to look at law practice as a business; which is anything you use to earn your living. Things do not just happen because you are a lawyer. This was how we thought in the early days; that being a lawyer made things happen with little or no effort. A lawyer who wants to make it or who wants to open his own law firm must get the rudiments of business, which you don’t get in law school. I attended the Lagos Business School executive course and it has proved very helpful in shaping my law practice.

Globalization is a buzzword and the incidents that affected law practice in our times, are different from what happens now. It presents new threats and opportunities. Some respond to these threats by becoming bigger and some are specializing. But whatever path you choose, there is no substitute for hard work. You can stay there and wish yourself anything you wish but it’s not going to happen because you wished it, but because you stayed focused and determined. There were periods when I practically had to sleep out of my briefcase. Communication is better now but then you had to travel with minimum information so it was virtually impossible to plan trips and you ended up spending so much time travelling.

My advice to young lawyers is this: Young Lawyers pay your dues. It will not just happen because you wish it.

You are the current chairperson of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Business Law – you were more or less the propeller; what made you so passionate about this Section?

I have an innate passion for continuous professional development; maybe it is rooted in my deep interest in teaching but I learnt at a very early age from my dad that knowledge is power and that those who continuously improve on their knowledge base are more likely to make advancement in life. If you read as I do the biographies of very successful men, one thing that is common to them is their unquenchable thirst to know.

Secondly I love sharing knowledge. So when I got involved in the Bar activities and was made chairman of the Dinner Committee of the Lagos Bar about 10 years ago, I saw that with the right sort of leadership at the bar, you could get lawyers to be more involved in determining their destiny. One way to achieve this is to continuously update themselves about developments in the profession. My exposure to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at that time also opened my eyes to the failure of the NBA at that time, to give complete cover to all facets of its members. For example those of us in the Corporate Law world were treated like outsiders to the NBA and I felt the NBA was not getting the complete benefit of its members. Most of this was due to the origin of the NBA which was an activist group fighting for independence. But times have changed now and it simply needed to broaden its umbrella to accommodate non-litigation lawyers.

The NBA is an organization that is larger than life; it cuts across all the other professions. We thought the way it could show its full face was to harness the entire spectrum of lawyers because it was slowly losing this batch of non-litigation practitioners.

The need for change started when OCJ Okocha, SAN was President of the NBA and he was favourably disposed to the idea. The NBA constitution was consequently amended to allow for the creation of Sections. So he basically set the machinery in motion and Wole Olanikpekun, SAN embraced the idea too and set up another committee which recommended for the creation of the Section on Business Law (SBL) and the Section on Legal Practice (SLP) in line with what obtains in the International Bar Association (IBA). When this was done, Yusuf Ali SAN became the first Chairman of the SLP while I was Chairman of the SBL.

I attended the 4^th Business Law Conference and one thing which struck me was the enormous international presence. How was that possible? Bearing in mind that the international community is quite wary when it comes to anything coming out of Nigeria.

We had our maiden conference in 2006, after the formal inauguration of the SBL. It was a 2-day all plenary affair but you could have sliced through the hunger for knowledge. That first conference was what reinforced my desire to press for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) because the conference was attended by Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court. Industry was fully represented as well as Policy makers and Regulators. It could be seen that Nigerians clearly are a hard working people. We keep receiving negative press worldwide and this is partly because we do not hype what is good that can come out of here. So I decided that even if it was in my sphere, I could do that with our Business Law Conferences.

The presence of increasing numbers of foreign participants is testimony that we are doing something right. To date we have had four such conferences. In fact, in 2007 the Keynote Speech was delivered by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. In 2008 it was delivered by Nana Akufo Addo, former Attorney General of Ghana, who lost narrowly at the last presidential election in that country. And this year, 2009, the Keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Fernando Pombo, immediate past president of the IBA.

The Law Society of England and Wales, the American Bar Association and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and very lately, Law Asia have become very interested in collaborating with the NBA.

It is therefore not surprising that each year tends to be better than the preceding one. I must give credit to the chairpersons and members of the SBL committees through whom most of our activities are done. They develop the subject matters, topics, invite the speakers and generally take care of all the loose ends. So when international delegates come and see how well organised and truly international our standards are I always remember these colleagues who go out of their way to ensure that the NBA puts its best foot forward.

The SBL has also benefited from a very vibrant council and the hardest working committees and I single out Mrs Mfon Usoro who was chairperson of the 2009 conference, which everyone acknowledged is the best so far.

What difference has IT in general and the internet in particular made in your practice?

The internet has totally changed the landscape of legal practice and I recall when Udoma and I were at Chris Ogunbanjo and co., we tried to introduce the use of word processors at the time to our practice but we achieved little success with it. Then, everyone had to beg typists to help with typing long agreements often in triplicates and quadruplicates etc and any slight mistake meant you had to start all over. You appeared very busy in the office but proof reading took a good chunk of our time. So when I started GE&P, I was determined that every lawyer was going to be responsible for the work they did so we train every lawyer to become adept at using the computer and to be generally IT savvy. For me personally, with my blackberry, I have my office in my palm and can work anywhere. In fact, I tend to get a lot more work done when I am travelling because of my blackberry – as long as there is network along the road.

There is no doubt that IT has changed the landscape completely and my advice to young lawyers is that to compete, they must become IT knowledgeable. Even the Parent body the NBA can cope with its ever increasing number of practice lawyers (over 50,000 by the last count) through the use of IT. So IT is indispensable for modern law practice.

I am aware that your firm George Etomi and Partners are actively involved in the Telecom Industry. How far has that industry come? Are we at par with the rest of the world or do we still have a long way to go?

The Telecoms Act was a product of a private member’s bill; Hon. Nduka Irabor, who used to be the chairman of the House committee on Telecommunication and whose passion for creating an enabling legal and regulatory framework for that industry is most commendable, actually worked with our firm to realise that Bill. We were so impressed by his patriotism that the firm [GE&P] actually worked pro bono to see that that Bill defeated the Executive Bill, which sought to leave too much power in the hand of the Minister. Paul Usoro and co worked with the Senate Committee and at some point, we harmonised the positions of the House and the Senate to produce what even the most critical of Industry watchers today agree is the best thing to happen to the Telecoms Industry. I believe that for the Telecoms Industry, the focus should be on the Regulator and the Minister should always be in charge of Policy. As you would have noticed, the faceoff between the NCC and the Minister recently about the 3G licenses clearly bears this point. It is a frightening proposition for the Minister to interfere with how the Telecoms Industry works outside of Policy. Today, the Telecoms Sector is the only public sector that is really working because it is the only truly deregulated sector. It is therefore not surprising that it is the one industry that continuously attracts genuine foreign investment into the economy. This is due to the legal and regulatory framework.

You were recently in Kuala Lumpur to deliver a paper at the Law Asia conference. What lessons can the Nigerian Bar learn from their Asian Counterparts?

I do not know about learning, but I know that collaboration between the NBA and other Bar Associations will produce benefits to both parties. I attended the Bar leaders meeting at that conference [Law Asia] and represented the President of the NBA. It was interesting to see the challenges that some countries face and the role the Bar is playing to help them. I was surprised to find out that there are some countries that do not have Bar Associations and some, where the practice of law is not even encouraged and lawyers go through all manner of harsh treatment. Conferences like this [Law Asia] allow for exchange of ideas as to how Bar Associations the world over can support themselves.

Malaysia is a wonder story and one worth emulating. I am glad that the immediate past President of the Malaysian Bar Association honoured our invitation to attend the 4^th Business Law Conference of the NBA and I hope that the NBA would continue to spread its influence to the Far East.

You wear several hats; husband, father, Lawyer, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section of Business Law, just to mention a few. How do you successfully juggle these?

It’s called juggling. Whatever I do, I try to maintain a balance between the home front and my professional obligation. I thank God for a most supportive wife and family. She is also a Lawyer but we have an unspoken agreement not to take work home so we can focus on each other and the family. And because I also travel a lot, we tend to treasure whatever time we have with each other when I am around.

As boss in the office and managing the SBL, I give a lot of my time and resources to ensuring that the SBL is put on a footing that is of international standard and to ensure that continuity exists.

Then I teach at the Nigerian Institute Of Advanced studies. I am one of the resource persons there and I enjoy doing this. I am also involved in a lot of other professional obligations so I am constantly juggling.

On a personal level I do a lot of philanthropic work; I have a foundation which I run with my twin brother, Dr. Mike Etomi. It is our way of giving back. The foundation is about alleviating the poverty of the Niger Delta people especially those caught in the oil saga. The foundation has a branch in the US and we are working with many good people.

I do not have too many direct business concerns though people do not believe me when I say this. It is true though; however, I do have investments here and there.

Church – I am a Vicar’s warden so that means I am deeply involved with the church. I was also the People’s Warden. I really treasure this religious aspect of my life because it completes my balancing act. As you grow older it is important to know where your priorities lie and to get closer to your Maker.

I noticed it is easy to walk up to you and start a discussion; you are very approachable. What is your reason for this?

It is a matter of my background. I worked with Chief [Ogunbanjo] who is not only a good lawyer but one of God’s best creations. He shared knowledge and was never afraid to expose you to his best clients or anything like that. If you grow up with that background it would be a disservice to hold information close to your chest. So I run an open door policy. If you want your message to be heard, the less mystery and obstacles you create, the better. I am also pretty hands-on and it is inspirational for the people I work with.

And finally, what is the one gadget you would rather not live without?

My Blackberry. When I am in the car, I am making quick responses especially if working with international clients. They do not understand why they have to wait three, four days to get a reply. And except I need to do a particular cross reference, I can easily give a functional opinion. I work on the go.

Spotlight: A Chat with George Etomi originally appeared on The Nigerian Lawyer on August 18, 2009. Feel free to forward to a friend.

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