Vianna:

Medicine is a bit better. Even as interns(housejob) just after they graduate before going for NYSC, they earn between 130-160k. During NYSC too, they earn something decent at their ppa.

then they leave Nigeria via the plab or usmle to practice abroad

mkakin:
The legal profession is still very lucrative.


What has happened is that most fresh law graduates/lawyers (and graduates generally) leave school without preparing for the outside world. Many of them didn't know that the outside world is not about books and grades alone.


Simply put: Schools no longer prepare/equip students for the reality of life. Students too, most times, do not bother to equip themselves.


So if you leave school with your knowledge of books alone. You have yourself to blame!


Legal practice is very wide. And I repeat, very wide! But the eyes of the average fresh lawyer is opened mainly to litigation/corporate practice. This should not be!

You can practice law in a wide number of ways. But first, you must have passion for it. Many people now study law without that passion. The passion they have is only for the expected money/salary.

Find a way to merge your passion with your degree. Law permeates every facet of life. So, if you love music, creative arts, etc, find a way to study law as it affects those areas. Gbam! You will enjoy it. And you will earn a living.

As a fresh lawyer, do not focus so much on salary. You can be your own boss as soon as possible....and make your own money.
But first, you must make sure you know what you are doing.

That woman on your street who needs a small help with a letter to her landlord is your starting point!!! Treat her well. Be professional with her. She will recommend you to someone with higher economic value than herself. It will surprise you.


That your friend who wants to start an electronic sales outlet, keep in touch with him!


You don't go about complaining everywhere you are!!!. A lawyer is a problem solver. For as long as there are problems in this world, there are jobs for lawyers - whether young or old. You earn money by solving problems and adding value to people's lives.


I can tell you, PERSPECTIVE is important.


There are opportunities to add value to lives, opportunities to solve problems. That's what should be your focus. That's where your real fee will come. Not your salary.

Mind you, if you are not well grounded, take the pain for a period of time, learn, learn well, learn fast.


Studying law is one of the best decisions I have made in life

Open your eyes well. There is money in legal practice!

Thanks for de advice u gave him. Na de outside school or real world Mata na him be de Koko.
I think starting small with focus should be de starting point n mindset of every lawyer.
Your write up is fantastic

ethicallyright:

Ned Nwoko's fortune is tied to Law though. He was paid $200 million for a federal government case.

That is not legal fees.

That is a criminal arrangement of which he would be giving money back to the crooks that helped structure such public looting.

No sane country will pay any lawyer those figures. Not even more than $5m in a year will be paid to a lawyer in the US for public legal fees.

lekki1444:
not a decent living, its the only profession where you can make 100 million naira in one deal if you know the right people. ask my guy here. top lawyer. oil and gas. earns gazzillion dollars a day.office in victoria island

Nonsense.

You can make the same or more in one deal if you know the right people.

It is called corruption and looting!

Otherwise it is not possible.

You can't make such money legally as fees. You have to make something and have a business that sells it to make such figures.

Law to me is de best course ever. Watin be medicine or nursing comapre to law.
Law is a business course, it doesn't restrict you to court alone. Lawyers makes millions of naira on a lawsuit. If I be lawyer wanlahi na land n properties be my own watin concern me with " charge n bail.

lekki1444:
are you serious ? before johnie cochran died he was making 50 million dollars a year, thats over 100 million naira daily.. you guys dont know nothing

Total moronic nonsense!

No US lawyer makes or has ever made $50m dollars a year from legal work.

Stop pulling rubbish from your yansh!

Vianna:
In my opinion, I think it's no longer as lucrative as it used to be and it's a very sorry situation. A lot of lawyers roaming the streets, they are suffering. Some of the many problems are

1. Too many graduates, little job slots

2. Senior colleagues are not ready to give the younger ones a chance

Most lawyers are "charge and bail" . They roam the streets and advertise their services to potential clients and they don't even have a place to call office. Many of them loiter in court premises all day under the hot sun and await the arrival of the police, hoping that the police would bring some accused persons who do not have lawyers to defend them. The moment this happens, the lawyer would approach the accused (usually agberos, louts and unfortunate Nigerians who the police had decided to transfer his frustrations on. ) and offer his service either directly to the accused persons, or through his relatives or friends who followed him to court. After a certain meagre fee is paid. The lawyer will appear before the magistrate and orally apply for bail, which in most cases would be granted if the offence(s) is a bailable one.

Being a lawyer in today's Nigeria is overrated, studying in school for 5 years to become a lawyer is a waste of time. To me it's more meaningful if used as a part time job while you venture into business or entrepreneurship.

Speak for yourself young lady, don't condemn someone's profession just because of an unfortunate few. Be guided please

ethicallyright:


Does Adam v Lindsell postal rule still apply today in email transactions? For two centuries the postal rule was regarded as a good law.

Law and morality are distinct. According to John Austin , Law is the what the sovereign authority says it is. There is nothing like a good law. Serial killers and mass shooters in American States where capital punishment is prohibited have been given life sentences when the families of the victims demanded death by hanging or electrocution. The families of the victims do not think it is good law while families of the convicted are satisfied. What about divorce laws that have given the fortune of wealthy men as alimony to their spouses who contributed no business advice other than being their marriage partner? See, it's good law to the feminist community and bad law to men who have worked hard to make a mark.

You see, the law is an ass. One can always twist it to suit him. To be "good" and to be "moral" are two distinctive conditions. While the former is objective, the latter is subjective. We have moral laws or non moral laws. There's never been a time in history that humans of any country or race have unanimously acknowledged that law is good.


By the way, there are more poor lawyers than rich ones.

Why all this gibberish?

You did not get the point of good philosophy?

Vianna:

Exactly my thought. It's not what it used to be

Law isnt over rated ma. Not everyone will be successful at same time. The few you tagged charge and bail are only by waiting for their own time, even Engineering graduates, Medical Doctors, etc all have those who can't fend for themselves after school which result in their doing things they never thought they would. To me, this is uncalled for.

HisRoyalHardnes:
Most female lawyers study law to get married and most males just to be addressed as The Bar. Lol.

80% have not read much hence are empty ... That's why old lawyers are the boss.

Very wrong assumptions. You just don't say things without a critical reasoning. There's nothing like old lawyers being the boss here, there are old lawyers who are still struggling while those who are just 4 years post call have made it.
The problem with legal practice in Nigeria is that everyone wants to do samething, if its not Criminal, its corporate while there are several areas one can carve a niche from.

poiunt:


Damn, I just read that he is not a lawyer.

How come he is doing what lawyers are suppose to be doing.

Calling out injustice in our society.

You see why lawyers are lacking.

Saga na strong man na. Person way spend 12 years b4 him fit get nysc certificate. He jst graduated 2005 from estate management. After wasting some years pursing medicine n surgery

Karac:
If either of your parent is not an established lawyer and you don't have a VERY CLOSE family member (aunty or uncle) who is established in the law profession, I won't advise you study law.

I didn't study law but out of the law students I met back then in school, only few are really killing it today. And this few are those I know have a job waiting for them even before they graduated. This has nothing to do with them being the most brilliant among their peers, but they have parents who are established in the profession and own a chamber. Talk about SAN pikins dem.

No be lie . Buh man gat survive

I agree. Legal profession in Nigeria is not what it used to be. I will not advise anyone to study same in Nigeria. You can study it abroad, but don't bother with Nigeria. Our law is too local and you cannot compete internationally with it except you obtain a foreign Masters degree to back it up and take it from there. Also, Only 20 out of 1000000 get into good positions here in Nigeria.
Others, freestyle till fade.
There are too many lawyers in Nigeria trying to service this dying GDP... .

Coolgasman:
It is only that medicine that you said that is now lucrative in Nigeria along with pharmacy, nursing. The rest you'd have to go the hard way to make it

that nurse must be a government nurse o.

HisRoyalHardnes:
Most female lawyers study law to get married and most males just to be addressed as The Bar. Lol.

80% have not read much hence are empty ... That's why old lawyers are the boss.

This is a wrong and primitive view but it's alright lol.

RexTramadol1:





Pol science isn’t that bad aha


U can be lucky enough to get recommendation with an electoral commission or even advisory roles

All pol science graduate way I knw don turn pastor

[quote author=emmnprince post=91845162][/quote]
U even try. Here for jos. We get paper for everything for cyber Cafe. All u need is witness n signature

Devgru:


then they leave Nigeria via the plab or usmle to practice abroad

Human want is insatiable...On the average level, Medicine is much more appreciable and less saturated than Law...In Nigeria's career horizon, Medicine is relatively better because you get to practice and earn decent income...And doctors have the strongest bargaining power in Nigeria as they know how to press their demands and hold the government to ransom...Same can not be said of other professional bodies in Nigeria...ASUU as a body is only second to NMA.

gunners160:
even psychology. I am a graduate of psychology so I knw wat I am talking about
in other countries Psychology is lucrative but not here in Nigeria

because you don't have an idea of what you can do with psychology. Psychology is in everything. Marketing, ui/ux, design, medicine, engineering etc.
I'm into ui/ux and psychology is the major tool as we regularly carry ux research. Psychology is science boss....

Etinosa1234:
OP...are u a lawyer/Law student...

I'm a Law student and I have few years b4 I graduate but as of recent..I've been discouraged abt the course...The course is great alright but it's not in demand and I'm not ready to spend 5yrs and spending more than 300k in law school and get paid 20k a month.. So I'm learning a skill that will make way for me...
One reason that made me give up on the law profession is the fact that Law schools in Nigeria are churning out thousands of Lawyers in a country that has legal apathy. They'll prefer to "leave the matter to God" than to fight it in court hence depreciating the demand for lawyers
Another thing is that it's very competitive.... from what I've heard ..it takes a while to get to top of the ladder in the legal profession..abeg..I wan make my Papa quick enjoy the fruits of his labour
And the third reason I gave up was that my roommates in the hostel don dey call me charge and bail . I don dey reject am..So a whole me..A Law graduate that spent 6 years in school will be hanging around the court and be shouting "Bros u get case"
I've already decided that I'll just get the cert for people to know that I'm a graduate..

Simply my opinion...Don't disturb me

Vianna:

I'm not a lawyer or student anyways. It's just a sorry situation honestly. I wish the mods like lalasticlala and Dominique could push this to the front page so more views and perceptions will flood in.

Oh, it's not just law. It's pretty much any course you read nowadays.

HisRoyalHardnes:
Most female lawyers study law to get married and most males just to be addressed as The Bar. Lol.

80% have not read much hence are empty ... That's why old lawyers are the boss.

Please what do you mean by females studying law to get married?

Gamesmart:


Why all this gibberish?

You did not get the point of good philosophy?

You've simply taken the simple way out by employing argumentum ad hominem. Attack my points.

I said there's no good law , but a moral or immoral law . If you have an idea of legal jurisprudence, you should understand my "gibberish".

Goddys:
The truth of the whole matter is that the profession is over saturated as someone has already pointed out.

I had a very high hope that I would hit it big after law school but have come to realize that the available lucrative briefs in the industry are reserved for the connected or those that are opportuned to join few esoteric spiritual circles in the society.

Law is a noble profession. It is not for the poor or unconnected. My advice to every young lawyer is to upgrade your class and finance in order to join a social circle that can bring that big brief. You may travel out of the country for a while and come back when you upgrade your status.

A lot of lawyers and judges are into fraternities. It's all about your level of connection. But you can be successful and survive on hardwork and consistency even though it's going to take time

that's not why they are at the top. btw, the fraternities as you call it, are not bad neither are they evil. the one who joins the esoteric organization because he thinks there is connection there, will only get disappointed! or you think people don't get disappointed in the Freemasonry and the Rosicrucian Order? also, the church's penchant for demonizing what it does not understand is also another reason why people will go to join these organizations thinking it is a ticket into fame, wealth and connection and also an avenue to hit their enemies.

also, if by any chance, there are a lot of lawyers in there and these lawyers are successful (and there are), then it is possibly because they are well read! anyone who is knowledge inclined, stands out! they have a good sense of justice and fairness. and they know how to argue their point as a result of their vast exposure to knowledge and wisdom, a thing the average scripture quoting fundamentalist born again despise and as a result, they fall behind members of esoteric organization who are by the way Christians and Muslims and any other religion out there, but with a difference.

also, what's wrong with these videos?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPFbKpYiVcA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRP8CbhbW4c
after watching those short videos, i would like to ask if you took note of the eloquence? and please remind me if eloquence is one of the qualities of a good lawyer or not? and did you notice he said those beautiful things out of the content of his person, without memorizing it. at least, it doesn't look to me like he memorized them. you see, a man is just by nature; and as he gives himself to consideration, wisdom, knowledge and understanding, that goodness in him glows even brighter! so can you now see why they may be common in your profession, law? afterall, they were responsible for founding a country, like you saw in that video. a country based on freedom and justice, which you will agree with me, are the foundations of law in civilized countries. so them dominating your profession, as you say, is probably not because they are favoured by the devil, like a lot of you want to believe, but because of what i have mentioned above.
to the one who is corrupt, all things appear corrupt; to the one who is evil, all things appear evil; and to the one who is good all things appear good, at least, that's the first thing that meets his eyes as he looks at a thing.

Vianna:
In my opinion, I think it's no longer as lucrative as it used to be and it's a very sorry situation. A lot of lawyers roaming the streets, they are suffering. Some of the many problems are

1. Too many graduates, little job slots

2. Senior colleagues are not ready to give the younger ones a chance

Most lawyers are "charge and bail" . They roam the streets and advertise their services to potential clients and they don't even have a place to call office. Many of them loiter in court premises all day under the hot sun and await the arrival of the police, hoping that the police would bring some accused persons who do not have lawyers to defend them. The moment this happens, the lawyer would approach the accused (usually agberos, louts and unfortunate Nigerians who the police had decided to transfer his frustrations on. ) and offer his service either directly to the accused persons, or through his relatives or friends who followed him to court. After a certain meagre fee is paid. The lawyer will appear before the magistrate and orally apply for bail, which in most cases would be granted if the offence(s) is a bailable one.

Being a lawyer in today's Nigeria is overrated, studying in school for 5 years to become a lawyer is a waste of time. To me it's more meaningful if used as a part time job while you venture into business or entrepreneurship.

Even this argument and conversation is overated. Do whatever makes you happy and take responsibility.

Teespice:
Hmmmm...my lips are sealed because I am tired of talking about this.

maybe hidentity may have something to say.

Sister, I am as tired as you are. I think debating the issue is even a time-wasting adventure. Let everyone know what they want from the beginning and set out for it accordingly. How have you been, Tee?

You people should kuku finish my profession but the above stated by OP is true Sha.
Commercial and Corporate practice all the way.
Meanwhile I have some properties for sale. Location, Abuja

Gamesmart:


That is not legal fees.

That is a criminal arrangement of which he would be giving money back to the crooks that helped structure such public looting.

No sane country will pay any lawyer those figures. Not even more than $5m in a year will be paid to a lawyer in the US for public legal fees.

https://thenationonlineng.net/paris-club-refund-row-350m-fees-consultants/

Above is the link . Ned Nwoko and his collegues were actually owed $350 million for the case against Paris club. The amount to be returned was $3.5billion. What they did is arbitration. At that point a corporation or country has no choice than to pay the 10% required by an arbitration lawyer and keep their 90% or lose all.

Let's take Manchester City case at CAS for instance. If Man City can pay Sterling , De Brunye et Al, and even buy players for 250 million pounds, what makes you think the arbitration lawyer that defended Man City against UEFA lawyers won't get 10 million pounds for the case when all the money they used to purchase the players would have been wasted without an appearance at UEFA champions league in two years or relegation to League 1?

Lawyers get paid as much as 500million dollars for multibillion dollars arbitration cases. In fact the price is 10% like agency.

Law practice at that level is like sports agency. Your clients determine your pay. While the agents of Ronaldo and co are paid in 8 figures, the agents of Sunshine United players are paid in 4 figures.

It's not charge and bail. If house/real estate agents at Lekki do not joke with their 10% what makes you think that high level arbitration lawyers will joke with their 10% after years of education and proficiency?

Such a profound and enlightening post. It's such a great opportunity to learn, I'll like to connect with you. I'm a law student. I sent a pm. I look forward to a favourable reply.

kirkwood:
Law is very lucrative. Expose yourself. We have capital markets, intellectual property, project finance, energy and power, telecommunications....lots of them...

Fact is that the profession is not meant for the small minded, and mediocres. You have to think big to succeed in it. Don't be a local champion and expect it to be lucrative for you.

Although I am extremely young at the profession, I can recall I have received tens of hundreds of emails from real, older people from around the world wanting me to be on their projects because of how I have exposed myself. How much more if I get older at the profession.

However, the profession is very much beneficial to middle-aged folks (people in their 40s and 50s) whose circles have ascended strategic positions in the society.

Of all professionals, lawyers possess enormous amount of power, and respect. If you dont think so, it means you are still playing at the base of the profession.

My advice to younger lawyers: find a niche sector; energy, water resources, sports, real estate, etc. and network deeply around them. Don't rigmarole or skirt the edges; get to their centers, their depths. Write prolificly about them. Cement your authority on these sectors and meet the real people there. Don't romanticize them; get them to be your business, your passion.

Don't be among the stranded majority who complain; be among the few who are among the richest men/women in this country. Go to the maritime industry and see for yourself, for example.

If litigation does not favour you, pivot. Nobody is taking your wig and gown away from you. Don't die trying to be a SAN before you actually become a SAN.

Think big as a 21st Century lawyer or you perish...

goaldynboy:


Don't be deceived! Those young lawyers earning 15k still amass up to 200k monthly from the goings-on in the firm! It all depends on the firm he works! Moreover, that lawyer earning 15k can make N20m in one business deal, even while still working under his principal!

That's why they say no employer can pay a lawyer!

Look around you, you won't see a lawyer starving!!

Look again, you will see that most wealthy people are lawyers!!!!!!!!!!

But the profession requires PATIENCE sha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are lawyers that studied law in the 70s, 80s and probably early 90s and if you check very well, most of them had their own chambers as early as 27, 28, 29 yrs. For a 27 year old to set up a chamber these days apart from someone with enough backing, frustration fit kill am.

justli:



People just don't understand. You have made a good decision; get the certificate and get skills in any other lucrative profession.
The truth is if I had to go back to school, I'd do law. The potential it has: you can move up the corporate ladder easily with your law degree. But you might have to add certifications in finance.

You have a stronger chance in politics with a law degree. Honestly the advantage is high as long as you don't limit yourself to practicing (charge and bail)

How can certifications in finance help?

Reucy:
You people should kuku finish my profession but the above stated by OP is true Sha.
Commercial and Corporate practice all the way.
Meanwhile I have some properties for sale. Location, Abuja

Why commercial and corporate law? What are the certifications and training requirements?

What do u do currently, i also studied psychology .

gunners160:
even psychology. I am a graduate of psychology so I knw wat I am talking about
in other countries Psychology is lucrative but not here in Nigeria