INTRODUCTION
Counsel has a strict professional and legal duty to thoroughly understand a client’s case, research and cite the correct authorities and accurately apply the law to the facts of the case. This bundle of obligations and responsibilities is rooted in both the duty of competence owed to the client and the duty of candor and assistance owed to the Court as an officer of the law.
Counsel cannot effectively represent a client without understanding the factual and legal matrix of the dispute. Counsel is required to properly interview the client, review documentation and marshal the facts before presenting them in Court. Under professional ethics rules Counsel must not handle a matter he knows or should know he is incompetent to handle. He must devote his attention, skill, and expertise to advancing the client’s cause.
Counsel bears the primary responsibility for conducting legal research and providing the Court with applicable statutes, rules and judicial precedents. Counsel must select relevant persuasive or binding authorities rather than overwhelming the Court with an unorganized mass of irrelevant case law. Counsel must never knowingly misquote or misrepresent the law.
Citing a case or a statute is meaningless if it is isolated from the facts. Counsel must construct a logical bridge showing how the legal principle applies to the client’s specific circumstances. If an adverse authority is brought up, Counsel’s job is to accurately apply the law by distinguishing why that unfavourable precedent does not fit the facts of the current case.
The legal system operates on an adversarial structure where the Judge acts as an umpire-not an investigator. While a Judge knows the law, the Court heavily relies on the Counsel to present the materials needed to reach a fair decision. A mistake of law or incompetence by Counsel binds the client, meaning a Court is not obligated to step in and fix a poorly conducted case.
ODUKOYA & ANOR. vs. ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF OGUN STATE & ORS.(2020)LCN/15486(CA)
ISSUE: DUTY OF COUNSEL-Whether it is fundamentally the duty of a Counsel to thoroughly apprehend a client’s case, research and cite the correct legal authorities and apply them accurately to the facts of the case
PRINCIPLE:
Before I conclude, I must say that, I found from the arguments of learned Counsel for the Appellants in the Appellants’ Brief of Arguments, that learned Counsel has disparaged the learned trial Judge’s understanding of the law applicable to the Appellants’ Claim. I find that the learned trial Judge clearly understood the law applicable to the Appellants’ Claims, and dutifully and correctly applied same. I must say that, if anyone is to be blamed, it must be learned Counsel for the Appellants who obviously misapprehended the case of the Appellants and the nature of proof required. This is despite the fact that he cited the right authorities applicable to his Client’s claims but failed and/or neglected to apply same correctly.
Per Tsammani JCA, as he then was now JSC.
Author:
Founder and principal partner at J.S. Okutepa (SAN) & Company, with offices in Makurdi and Abuja. He is widely recognized for his litigation expertise, constitutional law practice, election petitions, and fearless advocacy against corruption and ethical decay in the legal system.