“Every counsel has a duty to his client fearlessly to raise every issue, advance every argument, and ask every question, however distasteful, which he thinks will help his client’s case. But, as an officer of the Court concerned in the administration of justice, he has an overriding duty to the Court, to the standards of his profession, and to the public, which may and often does lead to a conflict with his client’s wishes or with what the client thinks are his personal interests. Counsel must not mislead the Court … he must not withhold authorities or documents which may tell against his clients but which the law or the standards of his profession require him to produce. And by so acting he may well incur the displeasure or worse of his client so that if the case is lost, his client would or might seek legal redress if that were open to him.” Per Lord Reid, inthe House of Lords’ decision in the case of Rondel v. Worsley (1967) UKHL J1122–1.
Embodying this principle, Rule 32 (1) and (2) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2007, provides:
32 (1) In appearing in his professional capacity before a Court or Tribunal, a lawyer shall not deal with the Court otherwise than candidly and fairly.
(2) In pressing a matter to the court, a lawyer shall disclose:
(a) any legal authority in the jurisdiction known to him to be directly adverse to the position of his client and which is not disclosed by the opposing lawyer; and the position of his client and which is not disclosed by the opposing lawyer; and
(b) …
The above provision has received judicial nod in some decided authorities, one of which is the case of Orji v. Onyemere & Ors (2015) LPELR – 25649 (CA), where the Court of Appeal held on the subject thus:
“Every Counsel has a duty to be honest and upright in his submissions in Court and not to mislead the Court. He must help the Court to uphold the truth and justice of each case, even admitting what would accrue to the best interest of justice and the law, even where that ruffles the private unwholesome interest of his client. See Ogah & Anor. Vs Gidado & Ors (2013) LPELR 20298 CA; and Co-operative & Commerce Bank Nig Plc Vs Okpala (1997) 8 NWLR (pt.518); (1997) LPELR – 6278, …”
This is one of the ethical rules of the profession which is observed mainly in the breach. Many a lawyer will actually be shocked to learn that they are under an ethical duty to present the court with authorities that contradicts their client’s case; I personally cannot recall any of my lecturers mentioning thiseven in passing. The norm is that lawyers do their best to outwit both the court and the other party – citing an authority, which does not support the case of their client and which the other party has not cited, is definitely out of the question. The much most conscientious and ethically-minded lawyers will do is to not state an incorrect position of the law, but to hand you the smoking gun as the above provision requires? – No, you would have to find it yourself. For most of us who are even aware of this “righteous requirement of the law”, it is largely regarded as an ideal ethical standard, one that is not really practicable: certainly not in today’s world and definitely not in this dear country of ours.
However, we have a few distinguished gentlemen whose sense of duty to the Court and the course of justice far outweighs their quest for a win. One of such extraordinary gentlemen is the quintessential attorney, Mr Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN – a deep-dyed bar man. Mr Maikyau’s strong beliefs about the duties a lawyer owes the court in the presentation of his client’s case goes beyond mere rhetoric, he has in practice followed the provision of Rule 32(2)(a) of the RPC, at the risk of his client’s displeasure.
In the unreported case of ALIERO LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL & 282 ORS V. KEBBI STATE INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION & 2 ORS (KB/HC/35/2014), the learned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, after presenting the case of his clients; arguing their position as much as he could and urging the court to grant the reliefs sought, said:
“Before I resume my seat, as a Minister in the temple of justice, even though I am representing my client, I will be failing in my duty to the court if I failed to draw the attention of this honourable court to the recent decision of the apex court in a similar situationlike the one in the present case”.
He referred the court to the case of Ogbolosingha and Others v. Bayelsa State INEC & Others (2015) LPELR – 24353 (SC), and urged the court to do justice in the matter. Honourable Justice Abbas Ahman, in his judgement on the case remarked as follows:
“Indeed, I must commend the effort of the learned silk in citing the case above which he urged the Court to use in doing justice to the case before this Court. This is very rare to find a counsel placing all materials necessary before the Court in order to help a Court arrive at a just decision”.
Mr Maikyau began his professional career in the law firm of Messrs Danladi Bamiyi & Co., where he was for about 13 years before founding his own firm. He loves to share stories of lessons from his principal, Senator Danladi Bamaiyi (now of blessed memory). One of such lessons is that to succeed in the profession he only needed 20% knowledge of the law and 80% integrity. Mr Bamaiyi had emphasised that any time his knowledge of the law outweighs his integrity then he was set for doom. Mr Maikyau took the admonition of his principal to heart and has lived by it ever since. He is also propelled by the firm conviction that the Bench and the Bar do not work for themselves but for their body: Justice.
Reading through the judgement and the remarks by the court in Aliero Local Government Council, I recalled what Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN had said concerning Y. C. Maikyau at the 2021 Award Night of Abuja Lawyers League – Maikyau Cup. The learned silk had in his speech remarked as follows:
“…my very good friend, Y. C. Maikyau, is a friend of all of us! And he’s a very good friend. As you see him in height so is he when it comes to honesty, dedication and integrity… he is one person who does things with all sincerity; he does not do it for any advantage, and we know where his money is coming from – it’s coming strictly from legal and lawful means. We appreciate you, even if it is ten naira that you have donated, it is more than a hundred million that any other person could donate…and I wish that the Nigerian Bar Association would produce more and more of your type”.
There are no truer words; NBA and Nigeria as a whole need more lawyers and men like Y. C. Maikyau who still place a high premium on integrity and ethics.
Chinaecherem Nwaubani writes from Enugu
