A Virtual Law Practice Consultant and Practitioner Research Professor, Teddy Idiabeta, has called on the Federal Government to adequately fund pro bono lawyering for improved service delivery.
Idiabeta made the call on Thursday in an interview in Lagos.
Pro bono, which means ‘for the public good’, involves providing free services to those in need.
It involves the use of specific professional skills by lawyers to provide services to those who are unable to afford them. Lawyers consider pro bono to be a valuable way to give back to the society and to help further the cause of justice.
Idiabeta said that pro bono lawyering was not easy in Nigeria compared to what was obtainable in other parts of the world.
According to him, in a structured pro bono lawyering, some persons must take care of the bills.
“We should not be deceived by what some tell you. Pro bono lawyering is not easy in Nigeria at all.
“In structured pro bono lawyering, some persons must take care of your bills.
“Of course, the government is supposed to be paying for it. Most of the cases some lawyers tell you they handle pro bono are not really pro bono cases.
“They are quasi-public interest cases where the clients foot the bills for the filing and appearance while the issue of professional fee is considered as pro bono. That’s actually the situation,” he said.
Idiabeta, also the Managing Principal at Prof. Teddy Idiabeta Law Consult, said that the Legal Aid Council should do more.
“I don’t really know what the Legal Aid Council is doing.
“We have to start with deliberate mindset change on the part of those in government and as regards the enabling law on pro bono lawyering.
“In America, it is the government that funds pro bono lawyering.
“The job of a lawyer is too tasking for anyone to do it free especially if the lawyer doesn’t really have other means of surviving,” he said.
