One of the reasons some matters end up in court, especially matters that have no business being filed at all, is because Nigerian lawyers either do not charge consultation fees, charge very little consultation fees, or, even when they charge, Nigerians do not want to pay.

Let me share what happened last week, and you will understand exactly what I mean.

A politician and aspirant from one of the South East States reached out to me after their primaries. He presented the facts to me and asked me to look at the matter and see whether we had a case. According to him, if there was a case, he would then pay me to file a pre-election matter and handle it in court.

I told him he had to pay me first to review the matter and determine whether we even had a case. I explained to him that what he was asking me to do was to examine the facts, study the law, and give a legal opinion on whether there was any basis to proceed to court. I sent him my bill. It is called consultation fees.

Then the usual emotional blackmail started.

“The money you are charging is too much, na.”

“I’m still the one that will pay you to handle the matter in court.”

“I’m ready to pay you seven figures when we go to court.”

WHEN? Not IF?

You have already decided that we are going to court?

This is how lawyers are tempted into filing frivolous lawsuits, especially during election season. If a lawyer gives you free legal advice, the advice might very likely be: “Let’s go to court,” because that is often the only way the lawyer gets paid.

In the end, the client spends more money, loses woefully, wastes valuable time, both theirs and the court’s, and, in some cases, even gets slammed with punitive costs.

The best way to stop this is for lawyers to charge adequate consultation fees and give truthful legal opinions.

Back to my story.

The aspirant eventually paid me a six-figure consultation fee, and not just any six figures, but the big side of six figures. I reviewed the facts and the law thoroughly and discovered that the man had absolutely no locus to even go near the court premises.

I prepared and submitted a solid legal opinion. He read it and simply said:

“Barrister, you are correct.”

The man don find place siddon.

That consultation saved him money, time, stress, and unnecessary embarrassment.

Law is a business like every other business, and every lawyer will always face the temptation to go to court because of the monetary gain involved. Every practicing lawyer has faced this temptation at some point.

However, no serious lawyer wants to go to court merely because of legal fees. Lawyers also want to win for their clients.

The best way to manage that temptation is to ensure that proper consultation fees are charged. It is very difficult to give an honest legal opinion that says, “Don’t go to court,” when you are not being paid for the opinion in the first place.

As for the rest of us, pay lawyers consultation fees for their legal opinions so they do not feel compelled to go to court just to earn their fees.

It is ultimately in your best interest.

• Firsts Baba Isa is a Legal Practitioner and Managing Partner at FBI Legal.

(C) CITY LAWYER Magazine. All rights reserved. To join our Channel, click here. Click here to join our WhatsApp chatroom. Contact us at citylawyermag@gmail.com or 081-3838-0083.