Types of Lawyers in Nigeria and their Salaries can be accessed below.
In order to practice any kind of law in Nigeria, you must first earn a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree, which takes a total of 5 years to complete, from any Nigerian university that offers law degree. After that, you must finish the mandatory bar advocacy training program at the Nigerian Law School, which lasts 1 year, and receive a qualifying certificate. After that, they are free to choose to specialize in any one of a number of different areas of legal practice, such as family law, immigration law, corporate law, property law, or conflict resolution, at any reputable law firm in the nation. If you are interested in beginning a career as a lawyer in Nigeria, you should read this post because it provides additional information on the various types of Nigerian lawyers and what their roles are.
FUNCTIONS OF NIGERIAN LAWYERS
Lawyers in Nigeria, like lawyers everywhere else, have a responsibility to act in accordance with a code of ethics and professional standards. Since the RPC was founded in 2007, Nigerian lawyers have been expected to follow its guidelines. The primary focus is on ethical responsibilities to one’s profession, one’s clients, the judicial system, and one’s fellow attorneys.
Here are a few important duties of Nigerian lawyers to their clients:
- Nigerian lawyers have a duty to serve their clients with all of their attention, knowledge, and resources while acting in the client’s best interest. Therefore, if you, the customer, hire a Nigerian lawyer who receives the brief but does nothing with it for a considerable amount of time, the lawyer has violated their professional obligation to you.
- Nigerian lawyers are required to advise their clients on the status of any case progress or matter they are working on in their behalf and to consult them in situations when it is not in the lawyer’s best interest. Therefore, if you hire a Nigerian lawyer to represent you in court, the judge rules on the case, and days later the lawyer has not notified you of this (without a good explanation), they are in violation of the RPC.
- Nigerian lawyers are required to swiftly advise their clients when they believe their claim or defense is futile. This basically implies that if your attorney understands your case has no chance of success, he should let you know so you can find a different course of action. For example, if a business partner breaks a contract and you wish to sue for damages, your attorney shouldn’t let you forward with the lawsuit if they are fully aware that you have no legal grounds to do so and that it will definitely end in failure. The RPC would be broken in this situation.
- Nigerian attorneys must appear in court in person or through an appropriate representative. Therefore, if your case is scheduled to be heard on a specific date and your attorney fails to appear in court or make other arrangements to represent you, he or she is in violation of the RPC and has failed to uphold their responsibility to you as a client.
- Unless the client disagrees, lawyers are not allowed to handle legal cases that they know or should know they are not qualified to undertake without teaming up with another lawyer who is. For instance, a lawyer who accepts a client’s request for advice on an Independent Public Offering (IPO) but has never handled one before and hasn’t received specialized training on the procedures and potential problems has breached the RPC’s duty of care to the client.
TYPES OF NIGERIAN LAWYERS AND THEIR ROLES
Here is a list of all types of lawyers in the country and the roles they perform:
CRIMINAL DEFENCE LAWYER
In order to safeguard their rights within the Nigerian judicial system, individuals or corporations under criminal investigation might hire the services of criminal defense lawyers. Lawyers who specialize in defending the rights of the criminally accused can either work for the government as public defenders or set up shop as private practitioners. Therefore, criminal defense lawyers may represent clients accused of kidnapping, arson, armed robbery, manslaughter, or any number of other offenses.
In Nigeria, a criminal defense attorney’s compensation can be anywhere from N100,000 to N500,000. This wide range is determined by factors such as the complexity of the case, the lawyer’s level of expertise, and the law company that employs them.
PROPERTY LAWYER
The role of a property lawyer in Nigeria is to ensure the legality of every property transaction and the protection of the interests of both the buyer and the seller of the property. Property attorneys perform title searches for their clients’ properties at the Lands Registry on their behalf. This investigation would reveal any encumbrances that might have an impact on the buyer’s ownership interest. A deed of assignment and a contract of sale are two examples of the necessary paperwork that property lawyers in Nigeria create for real estate transactions. These attorneys also ensure that the Land Use Act is properly followed by verifying all pertinent consents pertaining to a real estate transaction and perfecting recently acquired land.
Property lawyers salary is about ₦50,000 to ₦250,000 depending on the length of the court case. Also experience is another factor to consider when you want to know how much a Nigerian property lawyer earns as monthly salary for his services.
TAX LAWYER
Tax attorneys in Nigeria are interested in the country’s tax laws. They help individuals and corporations with a wide range of tax issues by providing advice and counsel. In addition to advising international clients, tax lawyers in Nigeria can also represent them in tax court or arbitration. Additionally, Nigerian tax attorneys regularly advise their clients on PIT, CIT, profit tax, and petroleum tax issues.
In Nigeria, tax attorneys typically do not make as much as their general practice legal counterparts. A tax attorney’s income, on average, can be N100,000 or more, depending on the complexity of the case and the size of the legal company.
DIVORCE LAWYER
Divorce attorneys in Nigeria play a critical role in ensuring their clients’ best interests are protected throughout the duration of the divorce process. If you engage a divorce lawyer in Nigeria, you can be rest assured that your case will be handled efficiently and competently. Divorce attorneys assist their clients in submitting all necessary paperwork to the court, making court appearances in support of their clients’ motions, and managing all other aspects of the divorce process.
Given the length of a typical divorce case in Nigeria, attorneys specialising in this area can command fees of N200,000 and more. These attorneys can make N100,000 in cases when the parties agree to settle out of court.
IMMIGRATION LAWYER
Immigration lawyers are experts in the practice of immigration law. They assist foreign workers applying for visas and work permits from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), such as the Temporary Work Permit (TWP) and the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC). Nigerian immigration attorneys also assist clients who want to appeal denials of visas to other nations.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION LAWYER
Lawyers for dispute resolution assist their clients in resolving conflicts and minimizing risks. Cases involving neighbours, professionals, property, breaches of contract and agreements, problems with landlords and tenants like eviction of tenants, and commercial disputes are among the frequent ones that dispute resolution deals with. Among other things, they produce court documents, compose witness statements, and assess the claims made by their clients before advising them on the next course of action. Furthermore, during mediation and/or settlement meetings, these dispute resolution lawyers counsel their clients on legal matters.
TRANSACTIONAL LAWYER
Business organizations can benefit from transactional lawyers in a variety of ways. They typically focus on offering legal advice to customers regarding business transactions, contracts, and agreements. In Nigeria, transactional lawyers have a variety of responsibilities, such as carrying out due diligence on behalf of their clients, creating policies, examining contract agreements, and giving legal counsel on employment and transactional issues.
EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS
Nigerian labour and employment law is a specialty area for employment lawyers. In employment-related conflicts, they could stand in for either employers or employees in the public or private sectors. Employee rights are upheld by employment attorneys with a commitment to the letter of the law. Among other things, their areas of competence include pensions, workplace safety, constructive dismissal, compensation for the workplace, and employment discrimination.
PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYER
In Nigeria, legal issues are helped by public interest lawyers, especially for those who can’t afford the services of lawyers. The Late Gani Fawehinmi was a well-known Nigerian public interest lawyer when he was alive, fighting for the rights of the poor masses. They are known to be interested in social justice and civil rights issues and may take on criminal or civil cases. These attorneys may fight such abuses within the confines of the law in situations where state actors violate the law, such as when police brutality occurs.
CORPORATE LAWYER
Business lawyers or corporate lawyers both focus on giving clients legal counsel on issues involving takeovers, mergers, and acquisitions, and company registration. They provide advice and information on regulatory matters to international firms that want to make direct investments in the Nigerian economy, ensuring that all legally prescribed conditions are completed for a successful operation there.
FAMILY LAWYER
Family law is a distinct area of legal practice where family issues are the primary focus. Family lawyers frequently offer legal advice to their clients on a variety of family issues, including the design and review of wills, prenuptial agreements, matrimonial disputes, and deeds of gift. Divorce proceedings, grant of probate, and letter of administration can also be handled by family lawyers.
DEBT RECOVERY LAWYER
Experts in debt recovery law advise firms and individuals on debt restructuring, draft and revise debt agreements, and participate in debt collection discussions. Debt recovery attorneys in Nigeria also help their clients by collecting debts internally, initiating enforcement actions on debt orders, and advising them on alternative dispute resolution methods. Their costs are based on the amount of money they are able to collect for their clients.
A Nigerian lawyer’s salary depends on their experience, the complexity of their caseload, and other considerations. How much money a lawyer in Nigeria makes depends on a number of factors, including the business he or she works for, how long he or she has been practicing law, and the level of education and training they have.
On average, some attorneys make as little as ₦30,000 per month, but these are the kinds of lawyers who aren’t really in it to practice law for the money. Those in big law firms like Banwo & Ighodalo, Abdulai, Taiwo & Co, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie pay their intern lawyers over ₦45,000 per month, while senior barristers earn over ₦200,000 to ₦500,000 depending on the level.
In summary, the answer is that a lawyer’s income in Nigeria is unbounded. Each attorney must decide how much money they will make each month and should work towards it.
