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

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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