Nigerian Lawyers now ready to take advocacy to the next level.
Nigerian lawyers can keep up with ongoing legal developments in the world by exposing themselves to best practices. That is why lawyers need to keep improving their professional skills. Some lawyers took that step recently when they participated in a brief-writing workshop organized in Lagos. The workshop, Brief Writing Masterclass, […]
Brief Writing Masterclass- Learn to write killer briefs.
Chelsea Hotel Abuja, 24-25 June 2015 Brief Writing Masterclass is boldly interdisciplinary in its approach to persuasive writing. Communications theory, linguistics, logic, psychology, rhetoric, and semantics combine with law to make this course absolutely peerless. Winning Briefs, Winnowing Issues To write a winning brief, you must first winnow the issues. […]
Reporting the Reporters
‘The Write Partner’ assesses, criticizes, or praises the language of selected passages from Nigeria’s leading law reports. Aikhadueki [2014] 15 NWLR (Part 1431) 530- Supreme Court of Nigeria Under Facts, the law reporter begins as follows: The appellant was arraigned with other accused persons at the High Court of Imo […]
Law Degrees and Their Meanings
The undergraduate degree in law is Bachelor of Laws (LLB). In Nigeria and the US, you need a law degree (LLB in Nigeria; JD or LLB in the US) before you can become a lawyer. LLB is spelt LLB or LL.B., never L.L.B. But many lawyers do not understand how […]
Types of contract clauses
The following types of clause are typical in contracts: An assignment clause permits, prohibits, or restricts a complete transfer of contractual rights by one or more of the contracting parties to a non-party. A confidentiality clause prohibits or restricts disclosure of specified information (usually related to intellectual property or trade […]
Call a spade a ‘spade’- Kayode Sofola SAN
Kayode Sofola SAN reminds advocates to call a spade a spade, and not an agricultural implement. Sofola has a firm command of English and an ear for the apt expression. He is blessed with a literary turn of mind. He also points out that people would say methodology when method […]
Miss or Mrs- What’s the court’s business?
Whenever I appear in court, I proudly announce myself as “Chinua Asuzu, [usually] for the Defendant.” I am visibly male, and extremely proud of it. The judge, observing my maleness etched on my rugged face, jots my name down as “Mr Chinua Asuzu.” Knowing this, I smile in silent gratitude […]
‘I Give You That Orange’
The plain English movement in legal writing is spirited in most advanced jurisdictions, common law and civil law alike. The European Union (herself civil-law-dominant) is part of this movement. EU Directives are drafted in better and clearer legal prose than traditional legislation in our common-law world. Australia, Canada, the UK, […]
Insert the Oxford Comma
In a list of 3 or more items with a single conjunction or disjunction, “always insert the serial comma. Some writers insist on omitting the last comma, before the ‘and’ [or ‘or’]. Do not omit the last comma—doing so can cause misinterpretation.” (Judge Mark P. Painter, ’30 Suggestions to Improve […]
Subtle Distinctions: Abbreviation versus acronym
Lawyers should possess semantic exactitude- we should appreciate subtle distinctions between words or expressions that look or sound alike. In this issue, we explain the difference between an abbreviation and an acronym. An abbreviation is “the shortened form of a written word or phrase used in place of the whole.” […]
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