The Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, (SAN), has admonished legal practitioners in the country to embrace technology in order to remain relevant in their practice.
Akeredolu said yesterday that the infusion of technology into legal practice has completely transformed legal research methods.
He added that Case Law Reporting has also taken a digital form with the introduction of the Electronic Law Reports.
The governor spoke while declaring open the 2021 Law Week of the Nigeria Bar Association, Akure Branch, at the International Culture and Event Centre, Akure.
The theme of the event was “Evolving Trends in Legal Practice: Challenges and Prospects”.
He said that the landscape of the legal industry in Nigeria has witnessed significant changes in the way and manner legal practice was being carried out over the last two decades.
“It has made the Nigerian legal practice global by creating opportunities for legal practitioners to interface with and secure clients from anywhere in the world.
“It has improved the service of court processes as courts now have rules that allow for the issuance of hearing notices through electronic means such as emails and mobile phones.
“Platforms for the electronic filing of court processes are also being developed and introduced, which will allow a legal practitioner to file his processes from the comfort of his law office without the need to physically go to the court registry,” the governor said.
Akeredolu noted that technology has made the conduct of legal research easier and faster.
According to him, a legal practitioner now has the opportunity to carry his law library with him and access it from anywhere unlike the traditional law library filled with hard copies of law books and law reports.
He said: “Recent discussions on evolving trends in the legal profession have extended to the introduction and use of artificial intelligence in legal research, which will even further improve the speed, accuracy and quality of legal research and in turn help legal practitioners advise their clients, draft documents or handle cases better.”
