Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has urged all practitioners of the legal profession in Nigeria to rise and improve the image of the profession, lamenting that its nobility is fast eroding.
Ewhrudjakpo said this in Wednesday as a joint delegation of Sagbama and Yenagoa branches of the Nigerian Bar Association and the leadership of the Young Lawyers Forum, Sagbama Chapter visited him at the Government House, Yenagoa.
Daily Trust reported that he lamented the once highly respected legal profession is now being denigrated by the unethical conduct of some of its practitioners in the country.
The deputy governor, in a statement by his media aide, Doubara Atasi, expressed concern over what some lawyers were turning the legal profession to.
He said, “it is unethical for practitioners to discuss sub judicial cases on television and other media platforms in their quest to achieve popularity”.
He also took a swipe on lawyers who encourage their clients to disrespect court orders and judgements, advising them to appeal such court pronouncements.
He maintained that the judiciary was under trial in the country, and therefore, urged those who truly love the profession to do everything within their reach to redeem it.
He said, “When I was growing up, lawyers restrained themselves from talking about cases that are sub judice (in court). But today, we even discuss the merit and demerit of a case on television and on the pages of newspapers.
“A lawyer going to TV or hold a press conference to talk about a subsisting court order and justifying why one arm of government or the other will not obey the order. To me, that is taking patronage too far.
“Lawyers must learn how to restrain themselves because by our conducts, we are reducing the status and estimation of the judiciary in the eyes of the public. We must know that our profession is on trial in this country.
“We must tell ourselves the bitter truth. The nobleness of our profession is fast eroding, and so, we have to work hard to redeem the image of the legal profession.”
