LAGOS TRAINS LAWYERS ON EFFECTIVE BRIEF WRITING

The Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Funlola Odunlami has harped on the importance of writing effective, crispy and concise briefs, in addition to a good presentation of strong and cogent arguments, as requirements for lawyers to win their court cases.

 

The Permanent Secretary argued that beyond having obvious legal ground on issues, lawyers must be able to present facts in a chronological, reasonable and professional manner with due observation of all necessary ethical provisions.

 

Odunlami, speaking at a two-day training programme on Brief-Writing Masterclass, organised by the Ministry for lawyers in the civil service, maintained that the training should be seen as a continuous exercise and that legal practitioners should not be left behind in acquiring globally recognised professional skills.

 

The Dean of the Write House, Chinua Azuzu who facilitated the training session observed that on several occasions, lawyers had lost some court cases due to the poor and unprofessional manner in which their briefs were prepared.

 

He stated that there is the need for legal officers to always draft their briefs with accuracy, brevity, clarity and secure substantive and technical validity for each of their grounds, noting that emphasis should be placed on issues, not grounds.

 

While noting that having a good brief does not imply that a lawyer will always win all court cases, Asuzu assured the participants that legal practitioners who can write good briefs stood better chances above those with poorly written briefs.

 

A participant at the training and Director of Advisory Services, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Hameed Oyenuga said that the training has further exposed participants to trends in the legal profession in other climes.

 

“I have learned that a good brief should portray facts vividly. A lawyer should be able to bring out all his facts and arguments constructively in order to win his case in court. In doing this also, we have been advised to adhere to basic professional rules and acceptable ethical standards.” he restated.