SAN to young lawyers: build advocacy on ethics, mentorship
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Igbokwe, has urged law students and young lawyers to ground their advocacy skills in integrity, continuous learning and proper mentorship. He said access to modern
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Igbokwe, has urged law students and young lawyers to ground their advocacy skills in integrity, continuous learning and proper mentorship.
He said access to modern research tools alone does not make a good advocate.
Igbokwe spoke on the sidelines of the Incomparable Mock Trial (Mike Igbokwe SAN Edition) finals held in his honour as an alumnus of the institution by the Law Students Society, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.
The SAN said that while modern lawyers now have access to vast online resources and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, the quality of advocacy still depends largely on the individual.
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“Today, research is much easier. A lot of materials are online. But despite all that, the quality of advocacy depends on the lawyer. If you don’t want to work hard, you won’t be a good advocate,” he said.
He advised aspiring lawyers to work under seasoned practitioners with integrity, stressing that poor mentorship could permanently damage a lawyer’s professional development.
“No matter how brilliant you are, even with a first class, if the lawyer you work with is not good, he will teach you bad ways of practice.
“You must learn under someone who will teach you ethics and the law properly. Don’t be in a hurry to make money; the money will come,” he said.
Igbokwe further emphasised the importance of lifelong learning, revealing that at the age of 62, he returned to school at the University of Toronto to undertake further studies.
“Knowledge is endless. You can never have enough. The more you know, the better you become at solving problems for your clients,” he said.
He warned that advocacy skills would not improve without deliberate effort, noting that opportunities, if ignored or rejected, would yield no benefit.
“They have to get it and apply it very well for it to work,” he added.
Reflecting on the significance of the event, Igbokwe said the mock trial provided him with an opportunity to give back to his alma mater, where he studied law between 1980 and 1983, describing the initiative as part of his law firm’s contribution to societal development.
“These are young law students who will be members of our legal profession in the future. I felt it would be a good thing to contribute towards their development so they can begin to understand what law practice is all about,” he said.
He expressed admiration for the quality of advocacy displayed by the students, noting that such exposure was unavailable during his undergraduate days.
“What they demonstrated here is what we didn’t start doing until law school. Some of them still have two years before graduation, yet they’ve gone through this process. They are lucky,” he told The Nation.
Igbokwe also commended the Dean, Prof. Abiola Sanni (SAN), whom he described as a man of vision committed to investing in students’ development.
“It takes vision and sacrifice to develop other people’s children. When he said that, I felt encouraged to support his vision by sponsoring this programme,” he added.
According to Igbokwe, sustained private support is crucial for the continuity of such initiatives, as students lack the capacity to fund them on their own.
He expressed optimism that other senior lawyers would be inspired to support future editions.
The mock trial finals featured a closely contested courtroom simulation, with the judge assessing both prosecution and defence teams on the relevance of questions, proper tendering of documents and the intensity of cross-examinations.
At the end of the trial and closing statements (adoption of addresses and adumbration), the judge provided insightful commentary on courtroom etiquette and best practices.
Scores were tallied, with the defence team edging the prosecution with 60 points to 59.
