There is a particular kind of fear that comes with being newly called to the Nigerian Bar. It is not necessarily the fear of the law itself, but the fear of being considered too inexperienced to practise it.
You have completed your legal education, survived the demands of the Nigerian Law School, passed your Bar examinations and earned the privilege of being called to the Bar. Yet, somewhere between receiving your certificate and making your first appearance in court, something begins to happen.
You start questioning yourself.
What if the judge asks when I was called to the Bar?
What if the judge asks who my principal is?
What if I make an application and the judge corrects me in open court?
What if opposing counsel embarrasses me?
What if I draft a court process and make a mistake?
What if I accept a brief and discover that I cannot handle it?
These questions gradually become more than ordinary professional concerns. They become limitations, and before long, you begin to reject opportunities you have not even attempted.
I call this THE NEW WIG SYNDROME.
It is that psychological burden where a lawyer begins to see inexperience as incapacity, mistakes as professional disgrace and every opportunity as a potential invitation to embarrassment.
Unfortunately, the environment in which some young lawyers begin their careers does little to help.
Sometimes, the very people who should guide them become the voices reinforcing their fears.
“You are just a new wig.”
“You cannot handle this matter.”
“You are not experienced enough to draft that process.”
“You still have a long way to go.”
“We cannot trust you with this brief.”
There may be genuine reasons for supervision, and no responsible senior lawyer should assign work beyond a junior lawyer’s competence without adequate guidance. But there is a difference between correcting someone who is learning and making that person believe they are incapable of learning.
Mentorship should develop competence, not manufacture insecurity.
The tragedy is that some young lawyers eventually internalise these statements. They begin to introduce themselves with apologies for their professional status.
“I am just a new lawyer.”
“I was only recently called.”
“I don’t think I can handle that.”
Gradually, what began as a description of their experience becomes the definition of their ability.
But there is another aspect of this conversation that we cannot afford to ignore, and that is the issue of remuneration.
Sometimes, the greatest damage to a young lawyer’s confidence does not come from what anyone says to them. It comes from what they are paid.
Imagine spending years acquiring legal education, passing through the demands of the Nigerian Law School, being called to the Bar and eventually securing a position in a law firm, only to discover that your monthly remuneration can barely sustain your basic needs.
At first, you tell yourself that you are learning and that the experience will eventually pay off. There is nothing wrong with that understanding. Every professional career requires learning, sacrifice and development.
But somewhere along the line, something begins to happen.
You start questioning your value.
You begin to wonder whether your contribution is really worth anything. You watch people in other professions progress financially while you struggle to meet your daily responsibilities. Gradually, you may begin to see yourself as less important, not because you lack ability, but because your economic circumstances have started influencing your perception of your professional worth.
And sometimes, the effect becomes even more dangerous.
You stop thinking beyond your salary.
You stop volunteering for responsibilities. You stop developing new skills. You stop exploring opportunities. You begin to approach every assignment with the thought, “After all, what they are paying me is not worth this stress.”
I understand that feeling, especially where the remuneration is genuinely unfair and the demands of the job are unreasonable.
But there is a danger in allowing what you are paid today to determine the professional capacity you are willing to develop for tomorrow.
Your salary may reflect what your employer is willing or able to pay you. It does not necessarily reflect the full value of your knowledge, your potential or what you can become.
At the same time, senior lawyers and employers must understand that inadequate remuneration is not merely a financial issue. It can affect morale, professional development, confidence and the willingness of young lawyers to remain in practice.
We cannot continuously demand excellence, loyalty, diligence and commitment from young lawyers while treating their welfare as though it has no bearing on their professional development.
You cannot build a sustainable profession by expecting its youngest members to survive indefinitely on promises of future opportunities.
But to the young lawyer, I also want to say this.
Do not allow an unfair salary to convince you that you are an insignificant lawyer.
Do not allow your present financial circumstances to become the ceiling of your professional ambition.
And do not confuse refusing exploitation with refusing growth.
You have every right to seek fair remuneration, establish reasonable professional boundaries and pursue better opportunities. You are not required to accept endless responsibilities without appropriate compensation simply to prove your dedication.
However, while you are working towards better opportunities, do not abandon the development of your own competence.
Learn for yourself. Build your capacity for yourself. Develop skills that will remain valuable long after you have left your present employment.
Your employer may determine your present salary, but you must not surrender to your employer the power to determine the limits of your professional future.
And this brings me to what I consider the greatest danger of the New Wig Syndrome: self-denial.
Many young lawyers are not necessarily being denied every opportunity. Some have become so afraid of failing that they deny themselves the opportunity to try.
They fear beginning. They fear responsibility. They fear accountability. They fear being corrected. They fear that one mistake will define their entire professional career.
But I want every newly called lawyer reading this to understand something.
You are inexperienced, not incapable. You are learning, not inferior. You are beginning, not failing.
There is no lawyer practising today who was born with courtroom experience. Every Senior Advocate of Nigeria once made a first appearance. Every respected litigator once drafted a process that required correction. Every accomplished practitioner once encountered a legal problem they did not immediately know how to resolve.
Experience is not something you acquire by waiting until you feel qualified enough to begin. It is developed through preparation, exposure, responsibility, correction and continuous learning.
Of course, confidence must never become an excuse for professional recklessness. Being called to the Bar does not mean you automatically possess the expertise to handle every matter. Know your limitations. Ask questions. Seek supervision. Study your brief. Research the law. Prepare thoroughly.
But do not confuse the need for guidance with the absence of ability.
If you are assigned a process to draft, do not immediately conclude that you cannot do it. Research it, study precedents, prepare your draft and submit it for review.
If you are instructed to appear in court, understand the purpose of the appearance, study the file, anticipate possible questions and seek clarification where necessary.
If you make a mistake, acknowledge it, correct it and learn from it.
A mistake should become part of your professional education, not the permanent identity of your career.
One of the greatest obstacles facing young lawyers is not always the lack of opportunities. Sometimes, it is the belief that they must first become perfect before they deserve those opportunities.
But perfection is not the foundation of professional growth. Competence, diligence, integrity and the willingness to improve are.
You cannot become a confident advocate by permanently avoiding advocacy. You cannot become an excellent draftsman by refusing to draft. You cannot develop sound professional judgment if you are unwilling to take responsibility under appropriate supervision.
And you cannot spend your entire career waiting for someone to announce that you are finally good enough.
At some point, you must begin to recognise the responsibility that comes with the title you now carry.
A lawyer is a lawyer. But being learned must be demonstrated through learning, preparation, sound judgment and professional conduct, not merely through the declaration of one’s status.
Your wig is not a symbol of inferiority because it is new. It represents admission into a profession that demands lifelong learning.
Do not look at yourself only through the lens of what you have not achieved. Remember what it took to get here, appreciate the foundation you have built and recognise the responsibility you now have to develop it.
To senior colleagues, I also believe we have a responsibility to create an environment where young lawyers can learn without being unnecessarily humiliated. Correct them firmly where necessary, but give them room to grow. Assign responsibilities appropriate to their competence. Review their work. Teach them what experience has taught you.
And importantly, compensate them fairly. A young lawyer should not have to choose between professional development and basic survival.
The future of the profession depends partly on how we prepare those coming behind us.
And to every newly called lawyer, I leave you with this:
Do not allow the fear of being embarrassed to become the reason you never become exceptional.
Do not deny yourself the opportunity to grow because you are afraid of being corrected.
Do not allow someone else’s assessment of your present ability to become the permanent boundary of your future.
Do not allow an inadequate salary to convince you that your knowledge has no value.
Be humble enough to learn, courageous enough to begin, disciplined enough to prepare and accountable enough to accept correction.
Being a new wig is a stage of professional experience, not a classification of human worth, intellectual capacity or future achievement.
You may be newly called, but you are not called to remain new forever.
Become what you claim to be, not by declaration alone, but by action.
Your professional journey has begun. Give yourself the opportunity to grow into it.
M.A AKINOLA ESQ
Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
