Whenever I meet High School students
who are seriously thinking about studying Law, the first thing I ask them is
why they would like to pursue a Legal Career. Two answers always stand out;
they have good oratory skills and they think Lawyers earn six-figure salaries.
Then I have to explain to them that the best Lawyers in this country are
arguably the worst orators and that courts are interested in matters of fact
and matters of law- not semantics of language. And if you can’t put hours into
studying huge files to extract the facts of a case then you better go into
Journalism.
I
also tell them that Kenya currently produces more legal practitioners than any
country in Africa and that it’s a blood-bath out there getting employment. I
have seen employers who would first ask you how many clients you are bringing
to his firm before you can negotiate your remunerations. Upon Graduation,
Lawyers are left at the mercy of the market. The competition is so stiff that
some of us would be ready to kill for a break.
SEE ALSO: The CURSE of First Class honours from Kenyan Universities
SEE ALSO: The CURSE of First Class honours from Kenyan Universities
So
what is so good about studying Law after all? At my level, I think the good
thing about studying is that your Mother gets a new status. Her name changes to
Mama Wakili. The second thing is that studying Law gives you the cockiness to
walk into a police station, quote Article 49 and demand that your Student
colleagues, detained overnight for drinking themselves silly, be released with
immediate effect.
This
profession isn’t for the faint-hearted. It is for ruthlessly focused
individuals, who can survive on three suits for a whole year, work like a
donkey, and struggle till they score that single case; that one case that will
give them the break and open the flood-gates of money. And when the money
starts flowing in it flows like the Rivers of Canaan.
Written By: Omollo Owuor Ngare , University Of Nairobi
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