Lawyers advised on wealth creation outside legal practice

The Chief Executive Officer of Lawbreed Publication Ltd, Layi Babatunde (SAN), has charged young lawyers to start a businesses in post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Babatunde also urged the executives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) led by Olumide Akpata to probe the conduct of legal professionals.

He gave the advice at the Lawbreed Academy second series, the training arm of Lawbreed Publications themed: “Money matters and lawyers’ well-being.”

The webinar, moderated by the Chief Executive Officer, Endniesal Consulting,  Abiola O. Laseinde, featured speakers and experts, including the Group CEO, Emerging Africa Capital Group and President CIIA, Toyin F. Sanni, the Consultant Neuro Psychiatrist, Dr Memunat Yusuf Kadiri and a senior Manager in the Tax and Regulatory Service, KPMG Nigeria, Mr Ajibola Olomola.

Babatunde said: “The entire world is economically challenged and Nigeria is not excluded."

He said lawyers learnt daily and that the webinar presented good opportunity for them to learn afresh.

He recalled that when he came into the profession, nobody taught him about money management or finance management.

“Nobody talked to us about wellbeing. We were taught about the rules of our practice and what is expected of us as a professionals.

“But over the years, I have discovered that if you don’t get financially intrinsic, and you don’t learn financial management with the pursuit of our profession and our health, then you run a very great risk.

“Lawyers are contacted most time when people get into serious trouble. And most times at that stage it is more than emergency, your client will call you in the morning, evening, even if they had a dream at night, when they wake up, they will call you, including if you switched off your phone, in the morning, they will complain that they call you about 3am, but you didn’t answer their call. That shows how much pressure they are under and they want lawyers to perform magic. With that, if we don’t learn how to take care of our health in such situations, we run great risk.

“Then I also realise that the income that you make, if you are not careful, it will appear as if you are making a lot of money. But if you do not learn how to deal with it as you get older in the profession, you will realise that you do not have much of the opportunity that you had.”

Babatunde canvassed the need to “navigate our ways through this challenging time. If you make money and lose your health, it is a bigger trouble. So, it is important for us to learn how to balance it.

“The President of the NBA, Olumide Akpata and the executives have  promised to looked into the root of the professional conduct of the legal profession.

“I believe that one rules that need to be quickly looked into is the engagement in business as a legal practitioners.

“It is high time to look into the rules carefully. Even the realities of modern time to review it. He, therefore, charged the young lawyers to make use of the opportunity.”

Lawbreed Publication’s Deputy CEO, Mrs Adejoke Layi- Babatunde said: “Lawbreed Publication Limited is 20 years. We are official publishers of judgment of Supreme Court of Nigeria. We do not just publish Supreme Court judgments. We have published some other practice books to assist lawyers in their practice.”

According to her, Lawbreed Foundation has, for about 10 years, been assisting law school students and giving scholarships to indigent law students.

She added: “Due to COVID-19, the lawyers need to be watered.  We need to do something for our customers, to appreciate them and talk about well being and money matters. We couldn’t do that due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So instead of just our customers, we were able to reach so many lawyers. We felt that it is high time we learn how to take care of our personal finances and our well being.”

Speaking on the topic; ‘Personal Financial Management for Lawyers in the post COVID-19 period’, Toyin F. Sanni said that crises are actually the universe’s way of challenging the health, strength and the resilience of a country, even the existence of the human race. COVID-19 is bringing an awakening and causing a shift in all aspects of our lives.

“In so many ways, it is clearly a revolution. It is a war that we are fighting, it is an endurance test, and it is a stress test and a complete paradigm shift experience all rolled into one. So as an individual, only the fittest will survive, as a business, only the fittest will thrive and as a lawyer in terms of your personal finances as well.”

According to him, contrary to what many people think, the study of the law and being a lawyer provides an excellent background for business investment and finance.

He argued that contrary to what people think, lawyers “should be the best business people and best financial investors.

“So, when you bring a lawyer’s mindset into financial transactions, you begin to see beyond what the average banker would see in terms of how you can use vehicles, separate entities and separation of levels of ownership in the same asset and types of title in the same asset.

“When you put all these things to use, you find out that you are actually a better banker and a better financial person.

“So I would be urging people today to make up their mind. From today you are going to disabuse your mind about being disadvantaged because you are a lawyer.”

His target, he explained, is to enlighten lawyers on how we can create passive income.

Sanni added: “Last time I checked, lawyers are not necessarily one of the most paid people but I know that things are changing and things are getting better and it will keep getting better. But even in the best profession, usually, your take home salary will not take you home. You have to have multiple sources of income.

“As you move a wheel the same movement that moves a part of a wheel up is that same wheel that moves a part of the wheel down. So what that means is that, as people are losing money some other people are making money. Any money that you are losing right now, you are not losing it, it is going somewhere else.”