Legal Practitioners Bill 2025: Reform at expense of young lawyers
The Legal Practitioners Bill, 2025, is presented as a bold effort to modernise the regulation of Nigeria’s legal profession. Reform is necessary. Standards must improve, accountability must be strengthened, and
- By Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe
The Legal Practitioners Bill, 2025, is presented as a bold effort to modernise the regulation of Nigeria’s legal profession.
Reform is necessary. Standards must improve, accountability must be strengthened, and professional development must be structured. But reform must expand opportunity, not constrict it.
In its current form, this Bill risks imposing disproportionate burdens on young and newly called lawyers, creating structural barriers, economic vulnerability and regulatory uncertainty at the very point of entry into the profession.
Having previously served as a secretary of one of the Committees of the Body of Benchers that reviewed a draft of this Bill, I consider it necessary to state plainly that several provisions of this Bill require fundamental reconsideration if we are not to weaken the future of the Bar in the name of reform.
The most consequential provision affecting fresh lawyers is the introduction of a compulsory two-year post-call pupillage. No one disputes the value of mentorship or structured practical training.
The problem lies not in the objective but in the design. The Nigerian legal market does not presently possess the demonstrable institutional capacity to absorb thousands of newly called lawyers annually into structured, properly supervised placements.
Yet the Bill imposes a blanket restriction preventing them from practising independently until pupillage is completed. It creates an obligation without guaranteeing opportunity.
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The inevitable question arises: What becomes of a qualified lawyer who cannot secure placement? The Bill provides no answer. A regime that produces qualified practitioners who are legally barred from practice because the system cannot accommodate them is neither coherent nor fair.
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The economic implications are equally troubling. The Bill does not entrench minimum remuneration within the statute. It leaves critical safeguards, supervision standards, allowances, complaint mechanisms to future regulations. This legislative silence exposes young lawyers to the risk of prolonged low pay or unpaid service.
Many fresh lawyers already face financial strain upon graduation. Some support families, others bear educational debt. Extending economic precarity for two additional years without statutory protections will disproportionately affect those from modest backgrounds and may deter talented entrants from the profession altogether.
If pupillage is to be introduced, it must be accompanied by clear allocation mechanisms, enforceable minimum standards, and sustainable funding models. Otherwise, it amounts to regulatory overreach imposed on the most vulnerable members of the Bar.
The proposal to vest annual practising licence issuance in the Nigerian Bar Association compounds these concerns. The NBA is a representative and advocacy body, not a neutral regulator.
Sound professional governance requires a clear separation between representation and regulation. Conflating the two risks institutional conflict and erodes confidence in the licensing process.
For young lawyers, the stakes are particularly high. The Bill requires applicants to satisfy the NBA of “good character” each year, yet provides no objective definition or assessment framework. Nor does it embed a clear appeal mechanism against refusal.
A licensing regime dependent on undefined character standards introduces uncertainty and invites the perception of arbitrariness. Even the appearance of discretionary or politicised decision-making can undermine professional independence. A young practitioner’s livelihood should not rest on vague standards lacking transparent safeguards.
The Bill further mandates Continuing Professional Development as a condition for licence renewal but fails to specify minimum hours, qualifying activities, hardship exemptions or quality controls.
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Professional development is indispensable; ambiguity is not. Without clarity and accessible delivery mechanisms, CPD risks becoming an additional financial burden and barrier rather than a genuine tool for competence enhancement.
Young lawyers in small firms or rural practice environments may struggle to comply if costs and logistics are not carefully calibrated. The provision empowering a Remuneration Committee to recommend minimum remuneration for young lawyers reflects a commendable desire to curb exploitation. Yet rigid or poorly calibrated salary thresholds may yield unintended consequences.
Small and medium-sized firms, which traditionally absorb the majority of fresh lawyers, may reduce hiring if mandated remuneration exceeds economic capacity. Protective regulation must be designed with market realities in mind; otherwise, it may shrink the very opportunities it seeks to safeguard.
Equally concerning is the absence of explicit transitional provisions. The Bill does not clearly address its application to current law students or recent graduates.
Professional qualification frameworks must be predictable. Abrupt structural changes without defined transitional pathways undermine legitimate expectations and create instability at a formative stage of professional development.
At its core, the issue is proportionality. Reform should strengthen the profession while widening access. Instead, the current draft concentrates regulatory weight on those with the least bargaining power.
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Young lawyers are not experimental subjects for untested regulatory models. They are the future custodians of the rule of law. If entry into the profession becomes prolonged, uncertain and economically destabilising, the long-term vitality of the Bar will suffer.
The Bill is not beyond redemption. With substantial amendments, it can serve as a vehicle for meaningful modernisation. But pupillage must be supported by enforceable protections and demonstrable capacity.
Licensing should be vested in an independent regulatory authority with clear, objective standards. CPD obligations must be defined, accessible and affordable.
Transitional arrangements must be explicit and fair. Reform must be principled, evidence-based and sensitive to socioeconomic realities. The strength of the legal profession depends not only on seniority and tradition but on the stability and confidence of its newest members.
In seeking to improve regulation, we must not erect barriers that narrow access, prolong vulnerability or compromise independence. True reform does not burden the future; it equips it.
The National Assembly must ensure that in modernising professional governance, it does not inadvertently sacrifice the very generation upon which the future of the Bar depends.
•Akangbe, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is a former Chairman, NBA Lagos Branch (2019-2021) and ex-Chairman, NBA Finance Committee (2022-2024).
