Professional Ethics: Duties, Conflicts, Client Money and Discipline
Core framework
Nigerian legal practice is regulated by the Legal Practitioners Act and the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007. This domain tests application, not recitation. The governing priority is that a lawyer’s duty to the court and the administration of justice is paramount over client instructions.
Duties and conflicts
- Court: be candid, avoid misleading facts or law, disclose adverse authorities, and never communicate privately with a judge to influence a case.
- Client: act competently, keep confidences (the duty survives the retainer), communicate clearly, and follow lawful instructions.
- Conflicts: do not act for both sides in the same matter; do not act against a former client in the same or a substantially related matter without informed consent; personal interests must not impair judgment.
- Client money: hold trust funds in a separate client account, keep proper records, account promptly, and never mix client money with office money or use it without authority.
- Fees and advertising: agree and disclose fees lawfully; avoid misleading claims, solicitation, and self-laudation.
- Discipline: breach of the Rules can amount to professional misconduct and be tried by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, with sanctions including suspension or striking off.
Worked example
A lawyer receives two million naira expressly for a client’s land purchase and pays it into the firm’s office account, later using part for chambers rent. Intending to repay does not cure the breach. The money was client/trust property: it should have gone into a designated client account, been recorded, and not been mixed or applied without authority. The reasoning is fiduciary: the lawyer must account and may face disciplinary consequences even after restitution.
Traps
Do not confuse confidentiality with legal professional privilege. Client consent does not always cure a conflict. The duty to the court may require disclosing adverse authority the client would prefer to suppress. Never abandon a case without protecting the client and complying with court procedure. Do not negotiate directly with an opposing party known to be represented.