1. MODERN TRENDS IN LEGAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING: BEING A PAPER DELIVERED BY MISS
OSARIEMEANITAOMONUWA(MCIArB,LLM, B.L),LEAD PRESENTERATTHEBREAKOUTSESSIONOF
THE 2016 ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION HELD IN PORT-
HARCOURT, NIGERIA.
Introduction:
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) for inviting me to
participate in this year’s breakout session to speak as a lead presenter on the very interesting topic,
‘ModernTrends in Legal Education and Training’. The aim of this paper is to examine the challenges
confronting legal education and training in Nigeria with emphasis on imbibing best practices so as to
ultimately improve the quality of lawyers in Nigeria.
Simply put, legal education and training involves the preparation of individuals for the practice of law.
Law is viewed as one of the most effective vehiclesof development,being a social science interlinked
with differentfacetsof the society. Whenit comestolegal education andtraining, the major challenge
is finding the balance betweenthe theoretical (that is, teachinglaw as an academic discipline) and the
practical (that is, adequately equipping individuals with the essential skill sets to be truly members of
the profession and competent enough to resolve intricate and real-life legal problems). In this paper,
the state of legal education in Nigeria will be examined with a view to identifying the gaps and
recommending reforms in order to bring it in line with modern trends as obtainable in better
developed countries.
The Council of Legal Education (“CLE”)1
and the National Universities Commission (“NUC”)2
are the
statutory bodies charged with the primary mandate to provide legal education and training in Nigeria
and ensure that a minimum standard is met3
. In Nigeria, legal training fundamentally is divided into
two stages; i) the academic training obtained via undergraduate study of law in the various
universities; and ii) the vocational training, instilled at the Nigerian Law School (“NLS”). An individual
who has undergone both stages of training should have a thorough understanding of legal principles
which ‘should be contained in his head and not his notes…he should have the mental capacity for
sophisticated reasoning’4
. Now can this be said to be true considering the current state of our legal
education? I am afraid that the answeris not a positive one. It is commonknowledge that the faculties
of law in the various Nigerian universities have in recent times been criticized for teaching the
substantive aspectsof law in a manner not in tune with modern trends and contentsinconsistent with
our contemporary economy thus producing graduates, in most cases, not adequately equipped to
perform competitively in today’s global market.
1 Legal Education (Consolidation, Etc) Act, Cap. L10, Laws of the Federation (“LFN”) 2004
2 National Universities Commission Act, Cap. 283, LFN 1990
3 Mamman, T. (2012, February). Rethinking Essential Toolkits of Legal Education in Nigeria. Paper presented at the
3rd Founder’s Week Celebration of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti.
4 Nash, G. (1980).Legal Education, A Legal Assembly Line. Paper presented at the 1980 6th Commonwealth Law
Conference as reported by Balogun, H.A (1999). Upsurge of Lawyers in thepast two decades- Challenges, Problems
and Solution. Paper presented at the 1999 Annual Bar Conference, Ilorin, Kwara State.

2. Just like a house built on a faulty foundation will not stand the test of time despite further use of
cosmetic dressing, so also will the legal education fail to achieve set objectives where the academic
foundation is faulty despite positive actions taken at the vocational stage. It is recognized that the
NLS is a genre of ‘finishing school for lawyers’ and is thus expectedtobridge whatever deficiencygap
there is and ensure that its final products are adequately trained in the theory and practice of law BUT
is this an overly ambitious expectation of the NLS?
In the precedingsection,I will set out and examine some of the major challengesunderminingNigeria’
legal education and training and propose reforms aimed at bringing it in line with modern trends in
other jurisdictions of the world.
1) Teaching Methods:
A major challenge easily identifiable at the university level and to some extent, the NLS is the
way and manner,in which, law is taught to the students. Studentsare taught in large numbers
and fed tons of information as though they are empty vessels with no independent thought
process. Active participation and independent thinking and research is thus not encouraged
resulting in only asuperficial rather than a deepunderstanding offundamental legal principles.
The predominant question then becomes ‘WHAT’ rather than ‘WHY’with little or no ‘courage
to criticize what is accepted or construct what is necessary for new situations, new
developments’5
. While one cannotbe oblivious of the fact that there is a move towards a more
student-centeredlearningincorporating clinical education6
andsimulation (suchas moot court
trials and model client interviewing sessions), it is safe to say at this juncture, that more still
needs to be done.
Beginningwith courses taught at both stages of training, there is a need to incorporate in the
curriculum, varied forms of practical classes and workshops. For example,in the University of
Reading where I had my foundation and undergraduate training, I was made to take a myriad
of classes eachyear which targeted improving myskills suchas problem solving, organization,
team-work, research and advocacy. I remembera particular research development course in
my secondyear of study whichassessed purely my ability to connectall documentsand pieces
of information uploaded weekly on the server in order to build an air tight case for my client.
Byadopting this approach to learning, one had to have a thorough grasp of tort concepts such
as nuisance and negligence. Another example is the Harvard Law School winter term course
titled ‘Problem Solving Workshop’ taught to its first year student. This course is disciplined in
the following terms;
“What sorts of problems do lawyers have? How do they solve them? What practical
judgments? This workshop-style course will answer these questions by giving you a
chance to practice confronting client problems the way lawyers do, from the very
beginning,before the facts are all known, before the client’s goals are clarified, before
5 Lord Sankey cited by Oditah, F (1950) (quoting from L.C.B Gower, English Legal Training. MLR, 137, 161
6 Clinical Legal Education and Law Clinics provides students with the opportunity of exploring active learning by
adopting a hands on approach. See Ojukwu, E. (2006) Clinical Education: For Nigerian Universities Law
Faculties/Clinics. Nigeria: NULAI.

3. the full range of options is explored, and before a course of conduct is chosen. You
will undertake these tasks by working in teams on a number of different problems in
different lawyering settings. You will be writing short memos of the kind written by
practicing lawyers, identifying facts that need to be gathered, questions the client
needs to answer, and options that should be considered as well as writing memos
interpreting laws that impinge on the problem and recommending a course of
action…”7
Nigeria, being a giant of Africa should not lag behind and thus follow suit by including like
courses in its curriculum. Furthermore, teaching with simulations should be encouraged. In
NLS, plausible attempts were made which involved inviting judges and senior advocates to
teach specialized areas of law. For example, Mr Chris Uche, SAN taught the 2013/2014 NLS
Abuja Class, election petitions. The NLS should thus inculcate more of these practical
approaches into its curriculum as this will go a long way towards enhancing the quality of
lawyers produced yearly in Nigeria.
However efforts by the NLS have failed to achieve optimal objectives fundamentally because
of two reasons; i) the amount of students crammed in one lecture hall; ii) absence of
technological infrastructure.
i) Large number of students:
Teachingover a thousand students all at once in a single lecture hall as is obtainable in the NLS
is a difficult task and definitely not in line with modern trends. The further breakdown of
students to equally large seminar groups of 400-500 people defeats the entire purpose of
learning in a small and intimate group. How exactly are students expected to effectively
interact and exchange ideas in such large seminar groups where majority of its members are
either intimidated or distracted by a few who dominate and do all the work? Little wonder
why students expend hundreds of thousands a year on private tutors who arrange smaller
tutorial groups of 5-10 persons, believing more in their expertise than the expertise of
professors notwithstanding the fact that these private tutors may be colleagues or fresh
graduates.
A comparative look at other jurisdictions, show a marked difference. In the United Kingdom
(“UK”),forinstance,seminar and tutorial groups consist of membersranging from 10-25at the
most, depending on the level of study and the institution. Students are thus encouraged to
actively participate as questions are randomly thrown at them and penal sanctions sometimes
imposed where a student exhibits a general lack of interest. Using the Birmingham Taught
Postgraduate Masters of Law Course (“LLM”) as a case study, one will observe that learning
is achieved via a seminar and not a lecture set-up. The rationale is that students are to be
adequately prepared before a seminar date to make meaningful contributions and analysis of
the status quo, recognizing that the professor just like a mediator in a mediation session, is
merely to facilitate discussions and not ‘lecture’in the traditional meaning of the word. Such
7 Harvard Law School. (n.d) Problem Solving Workshop. Retrieved 9 August, 2016, from
http://hls.harvard.edu/academics/curriculum/catalog/default.aspx?o=69728

4. an approach to learning discourages laziness and instigates students to be actively involved in
their learning and development of the law.
Bringing this example home, such an approach could be adopted in Nigeria, albeit with
modifications. While the traditional style lectures may be maintained with adequate infusions
of practicums and clinical education, seminars and tutorials should be organized with fewer
numbers of students aimed at collaborative learning. A plausible solution to deal with the
growing concerns of the large number of law graduates produced by institutions within and
outside Nigeria is to outsource the compulsory one-year training to other institutions and
service providers8
. Such outsourcing to a select number of accredited universities could help
take the pressure off the NLS and inevitably result in the production of better-trained and
formidable lawyers.
That said, sessions organized by law clinics in the various Nigerian universities and the NLS
should ensure that students actively participate in real cases, albeit under faculty supervision
and not merelyvisiting primary and secondary schools to read themsome vague rights as was
the practice in the Abuja Campus of the NLS. Studentsshould be involved in interviewing and
counselling clients, filing and defending law suits, conducting dispositions (and not just
watching endless tape recordings of cross-examination techniques) as well as moving and
arguing motions (and not merely cramming the preamble and omnibus prayer of a motion
paper)9
.
It is time for our legal system to stop encouraging a cramming culture and the dissemination
of information by students verbatim in a robotic manner. The emphasis should thus not be on
teaching students how to regurgitate materials more so where suchmaterials are in standard
forms like the preamble and omnibus prayer earlier discussed, but it should be on teaching
students how to draft court processes and contracts but with particular emphasis on how to
couch prayers, reliefs and contractual terms that show ingenuity and help propel the forward
development of the law.
ii) Absence of Technological Infrastructure:
Preparing a 21st
century lawyer to be competitive in the global market cannot be successfully
attained without incorporating the use of Information and Communication Technology(“ICT”)
in legal education via platforms such as e-mail communication, legal data bases10
, electronic
libraries and discussion forums. By suchincorporation, lawyers in training can share resources
8 The American Bar Association (“ABA”) accredits and approves law school while states also confer eligibility on
students to take the bar exam. Currently, there are about 200 ABA accredited law schools. A similar approach
is adopted inthe UK where there exists a myriad of institutions that run the Bar Vocational Course and the Legal
Practitioners Course such as the College of Law and the BPP Law School.
9 As an aside, I remember my days inthe NLS when we were made tocram and recite the preamble; ‘TAKE NOTICE
that this Honourale Court will be moved on the – day of – 206 at the hour of 9’o clock in the forenoon or so soon
thereafter where counsel on behalf of the applicant may be heard praying this Honourable Court the following
prayers…’
10 Examples include: Law pavilion; westlaw; lexis nexis.

5. and have access to educational materials outside their educational institutions. Thisno doubt
improves the researchand communication skills of lawyers who thenbecome better equipped
to work in the global market especially as law practice is delocalized with commercial
transactional work frequently being demanded across such ICT platforms.
In line with modern trends, it is therefore important that teaching methods make use of ICT
facilities. The government, the NBA and successful members of the bar should contribute
immensely to the acquisition of such technology infrastructure. Law libraries in the
universities and the NLS should be stocked with sufficient amount of computers to meet the
student population. The computersshould have access to the internet and legal software and
databases and students should be adequately trained on how to use the legal databases.
In jurisdictions like the UK, it is practically impossible to graduate from the university or the
law school without knowing the basics, that is, how to type, conduct research using legal
databases and prepare PowerPoint slides. This is because at everystep of learning, the use of
technology is made mandatory and no progression can be made to the next level without a
working proficiency of its use. A similar culture must thus be adopted in Nigeria as it is not
acceptable that in the 21st
century,a law graduate can be called to the Nigerian bar hoping to
compete with his counterparts in other parts of the world without knowing how to use ICT
facilities and platforms. It is no wonder a lot of successfulNigerian lawyers have had to retrain
themselves in the use of ICT in order to compete globally and stay afloat11
.
Of course, the hiccupof epileptic power supply and non-availability of fast high speedinternet
still remains despite overcoming the challenge of funding and the inculcation of technology
culture. We are all aware of the challenges the Nigeria power sector is currently faced with
(insufficient generation and transmission, pipeline vandalism, power theft, huge debt profiles
of discos-just to mention a few). It is thus imperative that the stakeholders in the legal
profession consider partnerships with independent power companies to explore the
possibilities of generating and distributing power to law faculties and the NLS via embedded
power generation.
2) Rewarding Intellectual Theft:
A fundamental, albeit ignored aspect of the Nigerian legal education and training that needsa
complete overhaul is its reward for intellectual theft. The over-reliance on hardcopy without
an online back-up has made it rather too easy for students and lecturers alike to copy chunks
of materials without necessarily attributing the contents of the work to the original author.
Plagiarism breeds laziness and results in a lack of ingenuity. There is thus an urgent need to
checkthe disturbing rate of plagiarism exhibitedby some studentsand some of their lecturers.
This can be achieved by organizing awareness workshops emphasizing the various forms and
the repercussions. For example, a student who is made aware that he risks expulsion if his
11 The introduction of the e-filingin the high court of various states such as Lagos State presents a unique challenge
for lawyers who are not ICT trained and makes even more glaringthe deficiencies thatexistin our legal training
methods.

6. work is found to have been plagiarized, is motivated to adequately research his paper and
properly reference his work. To achieve this, law faculties and the NLS should introduce
plagiarism detection software capable of detecting similarities in written work12
. By
implication, all written work, projects included, must be submitted both online and in person.
Software such as turnitin13
, plagiarismchecker are usedin various academicinstitutions across
the globe and there is really no justification for Nigeria refusing to jump on the bandwagon
and stop rewarding intellectual theft.
3) Accommodating Persons with Disabilities:
Aware ofthe absence ofdisability discrimination laws inNigeria, the National Assembly in2005
approved a bill which is currently awaiting presidential assent titled, ‘An Act to Ensure Full
Integration of Persons with Disabilities into the Society and to Establish a National
Commission for Persons with Disabilities and Vest it with the Responsibilities for their
Education, Health Care and Protection of Social, Economic and Civil Rights’14
. This bill
provides for the prohibition of discrimination and harmful treatment and fundamentally talks
about the right of a person with disability to access physical structures without any hindrance
or difficulty. Though it is quite disappointing that a bill of such importance is currently
suffering delay at the presidential assent stage, making Nigeria lag behind other African
countries like Uganda, Kenya and Ghana15
, there is no excuse for the law faculties and the NLS
to be insensitive to persons with disabilities. This is because, Nigeria by appending her
signature and ratifying the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all legal and
administrative measures are to be adopted in implementing the convention16
.
What this simply means is that pending and subsequently after the bill is passed into law,
concerted efforts must be made to ensure that law faculties and the NLS have the
infrastructure and personnel to accommodate students with varying disabilities. Efforts could
include, constructing new buildings and renovating old ones that have wheelchair access,
recognizing that a student with documented reading disorder such as dyslexia may require
extra time on his or her exams,ensuring that the blind and the deaf will require the braille and
interpreters respectively17
. This is one sure way of ensuring that the legal education and
training offered in Nigeria measures up with its counterparts in other developed jurisdictions.
4) Continuing Legal Education:
12 This should be used from the very firstday a student submits a written work and not justfor qualifyingthesis.
13 The Turnitin software is now used at the University of Benin to check the originality of post-graduatethesis and
dissertations.
14 Onyekwere, J. (2015, March 9).Persons with disabilities bill and the burden of presidential assent. The Guardian.
Retrieved from http://guardian.ng/features/law/persons-with-disabilities-bill-and-the-burden-of-presidential-
assent/
15 Ghana enacted the Persons with Disabilities Act in 2006
16 Article 4(1)(a) of the UN Convetion.
17 Reingold, P.D. (2001).Essays: Recent Trends in American Legal Education. Kwansei Gakuin L. Rev, 15, 17-36.

7. The idea behind continuing legal education is that training of lawyers should be a life-long
process and not terminate at the NLS. Rule 11 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal
Practitioners 2007 (“RPC”) makes provisions for the NBA to organize Mandatory Continuing
Professional Development (“MCPD”) program for the legal practitioners. Rule 12 (1)(b) and
12(2) of the RPC provides that a lawyer shall obtain an Annual Practicing Certificate certifying
that he has paid his annual practicing fee for the year and fulfilled the MCPD requirements
under the NBA Rules. While the NBA via its Institute of Continuing Legal Education (“ICLE”)
has made considerable efforts over the years to facilitate such MCPD programs through the
organization of conferencesand workshops, we can all agree that more still needsto be done
to bring to life the MCPD vision.
A cursory look at the American Bar Association (“ABA”) system in the United States (“US”)
show that the Continuing Legal Education Committee (“CLEC”)of the ABAclearly sets out the
kinds of programs that receive credit hours and how such credit hours are to be allocated.
Regrettably, in Nigeria, although the RPC provides a schedule of credit hours18
to be obtained
graduated bythe individual lawyer’snumber ofyears post call, there is no clearanalysis setting
out how such allocation will be made. Taking a leaf from the US practice, credit hours could
be computed by dividing the running time of instructional programs by either 50 or 60
minutes, that is, a 90 minute program may earn 1.5 hours of credit hours in states such as
Arizona and Ohio that bases its credit on a 60 minute credit hour slot19
. A further
implementation tip that can be incorporated in practice, noting the silence of the rules on this
point is the idea of transcript reporting or reporting via affidavit. While in the former, the
continuing legal education provider maintains a record of course attendees with the credit
earned and then transmits such records to the CLEC, in the latter, the individual lawyer has to
maintain his or her own record of credit on an affidavit submitted at the end of the reporting
period20
. It is imperative that the NBA devise a clear and verified structure on how to
effectivelyimplement the rules and overcome all the practical hurdles21
. Thisis to ensure that
the MCPD program do not suffera similar procedural fate as was the case with the application
and delay in obtaining the NBA stamps as experienced in 2016.
Still on the issue of continuing legal education,a point must be made about the opportunities
and possibilities of setting up and using technology clinics. As in the US, students and
members of the bar harmonize the use of technology to deliver online services to unserved
clients with low and moderate income earnings. However, one is mindful of the peculiar
problems that make such an exploration in Nigeria expensive and difficult (epileptic power
supply and expensive internet access). Notwithstanding, lawyers must learn to look to the
18 0>/5 years post call to bar = 24 hours; <5-10 years postcall to bar = 18 hours; and above 10 years postcall to bar
= 12 hours.
19American Bar Association (2016). Retrieved from
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/frequently_asked_questions.html
20 Ibid

8. future and identify possibilities as that is the only sure means to stay afloat and remain
competitive in the global market22
.
Conclusion:
While I recognize that this is not the first paper to be presented at similar fora on the state of legal
education and training in Nigeria, I am indeed hopeful that a persistent reiteration of the deficiencyin
our system and the implementations of the recommendations aimed at elevating the status to be in
line with modern trends and practices across the globe will eventually result in positive reaction and
the much clamored change as the common adage goes ‘Persistence overcomes resistance’.
Thank you all for your attention.
22 Dodo, D.D (2014). The Challenges of the Nigerian Lawyer in the 21st Century Global Legal Market Place. Paper
presented at the Nigerian Law School on the occasion of the induction of its students.