this is unbelievable
after all the hype in school and all the white and blackish life. you get paid 15k?? na lie abeg
but if it's true then i think it's better of teaching.

babsmii:

this is unbelievable
after all the hype in school and all the white and blackish life. you get paid 15k?? na lie abeg
but if it's true then i think it's better of teaching.

I don't think you stay in naija if you think 15k is ridiculous. Infact it's almost the norm, and it's not only lawyers.

if you are connected, then you will be in the firms that pay about 150k plus profit share at the end of the year. if not, its tough.

pity. could still remember when we were in school that law students used to brag the most and make mockery of other undergrads. after all cramming of this vs that , they ended up with high bp in one law firm. pity indeed.

obiflex:

@ sagamite: i think young lawyers r so shocked by d harsh treatment & low wages that welcome them into d profession that most opt out. Some leave d country, some leave to other sectors & others leave to pursue business. Those who remain r those from poor homes who cannot finance a struggle. Nigeria has produced about 80,000 lawyers in 50yrs. There r about 40,000 lawyers in the NBA. This represents d no of lawyers that r alive & resident in nigeria. D no of lawyers in actual legal practice in nigeria is less than 20,000. Legal practice is a multi-billion naira industry dominated by a few popular names. In reality most of d job is done by d unknown young lawyers but, d money never trickles down to those who do d job

couldnt have said it better.

@ post
Its rather unfortunate where we have found ourself in the labour market in Nigeria. It all boils down to lack of incentives and goverment initiatives for the unemployed in Nigeria. I remember during my days in d University n law school, one of the 'misconception' we were made to understand was that the legal proffession is an exclusive proffession made for the rich and not for the poor as obtainable in England during the old common law days. The rationale for this as they claim is that only the rich who are members of the higher class, became lawyers hence the reason why they claim its not a lucrative proffession yet the nobliest of all proffession simply cos its dominated by the rich. Now, times have changed cos the poor have equally embraced this so called noble proffession. The bitter truth is as far as legal practice in Nigeria is concerned, u can only get well payed as a lawyer only if you are well connected. If you are a new wig and u want make fast money, u can only achive that if u have already made parents who are into the proffession too or only if you work in corporate organisations. For those who want to start off on their own you can do so but it will take a while before you can make it on your own at least nothing less than 4yrs serving tutelage under a senior. Thats just d bitter truth

well, truth is that practice of law is not a proffession it is a trade. you have to be a hands-on person to survive. you must be a problem solver to thrive. if u do u will earn money on your own even at 6 months at the bar. in law nobody pays you money just to come and sit in an office cos even the seniors are constrained money wise. so be sharp learn wot u nid to learn and strike out onyour own, cherios

People are talking as though lawyers are the only professionals in Nigeria who receive such paltry wages? This problem of paying low wages affects all other occupations, including doctors, nurses, architects, and the like. I read about in one of the posts about how one driver makes more than some lawyers. Well, that is very possible because there is always an exception to the rule. Similarly, in the western world, it is not uncommon for certain chauffeurs, especially those employed by wealthy celebrities, to earn more than some doctors, but we all know that is is an exception to the norm.
Lawyers, at least in Yankee, unlike other professionals, have a better chance of a high earning potential, which usually comes after years of hard work, and the money is usually earned by the contingency fees recovered after a favorable settlement or judgment. If you are a lazy lawyer, on the other hand, then you will probably not make as much money as a lawyer who gets his hand dirty, and you may work in the public sector or doing transactional work. But we all know that in Nigeria the economy is bad, and that is why lawyers, doctors, nurses, and many professionals flee the country in search of greener pastures. It is not just lawyers who receive paltry wages.

This brings us back to the issue of University training not being an end but a means.

People should not rest on their laurels and equate their university certificate to success in life. Invention, innovation, broad mindedness and hard work. Ingredients for success,

snowdrops:

This brings us back to the issue of University training not being an end but a means.

People should not rest on their laurels and equate their university certificate to success in life. Invention, innovation, broad mindedness and hard work. Ingredients for success,

true talk!!

well, thanks all for yor input, i think the wisest thing for nigerian lawyers to do is, as said before, form a union and oppose to such things, whether university is a means and not an end, nobody that practised for YEARS should be earning anything that little!!! as I said , MY HOUSEKEEPER WHO DIDDNT EVEN GO TO SECONARY SCHOOL EARNS N20k, THESAME AS LAWYERS!!!! thats just SICK!

Faher:

I don't think you stay in naija if you think 15k is ridiculous. Infact it's almost the norm, and it's not only lawyers.

don't you get?? 15k for a [size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt]lawyer[/size][/size][/size][/size],
with all the hype. i thought they graduate to start earning at least 60k, na wa oo

Yes, its true many junior lawyers earn very low income. This is usually due to the greed of thier principals not because lawyers are not making good money. That is why may junior lawyers try to ganner good quality experience and leverage on that expirience to establish thier own practice and before you know it they join the league of high fee earners.

Some juniors are not having it bad too. Some law firms pay what compares with the banks. So they have some level of comfort. I am on employment with a law firm in Lagos and I know that there are law firms that give brand new cars to their staff. But after getting experience, a lawyer will most likely fair better to be on his own.

Even for juniors who is lowly paid now, its usually only a matter of time. They will soon get thier fair share of goodies in law practice. I have a friend who was poorly paid and harrased by his boss, so he went on his own. I less than 6 months, he became very comfortable. I have not less than 10 lawyer friends around me, all of them are in private practice but all of them are comfortable. they are not worse than any of thier mates in the banks, or telecoms, The multinational oil company ones may be a shade better.

Law has a little edge over other disciples, lawyers are hardly jobless, the job may not pay much but they will find something.

In summary, am fulfiled as a lawyer and I am not bad financially. What is more, I feel I am closer than ever to making very big bucks in legal practice.

Too Bad !!!!!

In this present condition of Nigeria ?

this alone can cause a lawyer to steal .

if you have your own chambers (according to what i've seen) then you will be making some money

if you are working for in someone's chamber then you might be leaving in a public yard then when you win a case in court maybe for a top official and he wants to come to your house to thank you and the media also comes too then

emmanuel93:

well, thanks all for yor input, i think the wisest thing for nigerian lawyers to do is, as said before, form a union and oppose to such things, whether university is a means and not an end, nobody that practised for YEARS should be earning anything that little!!! as I said , MY HOUSEKEEPER WHO DIDDNT EVEN GO TO SECONARY SCHOOL EARNS N20k, THESAME AS LAWYERS!!!! thats just SICK!

i've said this many times, and i would say it again- its not about school or degree, its about you!! there is nothing out there that you can't do, even if you read computer engineering, you can still make your money being an agricultural product dealer.

i have a friend that immediately he just finished secondary school, his dad told him to go and learn a handwork, in plumbing, after he graduated from the university, and finished study the banking and finance he went to school for, he still couldn't get a job after two years,
it is his plumbing work that he's using to feed himself, and hes go at it, even registered a business doing the plumbing full time/big time. so dont depend on that certificate, or that big man that promise you job after school

Wetin Lawyers dey do sef ?

Jyde22:

Wetin Lawyers dey do sef ?

yeah, i heard that line before seen the sticker on cars, back in lagos

Jyde22:

Wetin Lawyers dey do sef ?

Charge and bail.

Relatively speaking, the situation could be just as bad for some lawyers in the US. Here, the pay could range between $35k for $160k+ for new graduates. The truth is that most people only see the $160k before jumping head in.

The $35k salary is very real if you work for the prosecutor’s office which is what could happen if you’re not a graduate from a top 20 school or not in the 25 percentile class rank of a lower tiered school.

Imagine having student loan payments that is twice your salary after tax?

I dont know what you guys are talking about. I Was called to bar in 2004. As a corper my first salary was 30k per month. After service, the same law firm was paying me 75k a month. I went abroad and did my masters and came back to that same law firm and was earning 125k per month. Now i am a legal adviser to a firm and i earn over 300k a month. It all boils down to your qualification and what you set out to achieve.

I remember after making a 2-1 in university and law school, i told my self that i would work in one of the best law firms in Nigeria. I went to the internet, got names and started applying. I ended up in the one i like. Even now i am still writing a UK professional course, because in the next 2 years i want to be earning like 600k per month. Some lawyers run away from mathematics, even though the world is evolving towards risk management awareness and financial permutations for corporate survival.

So, as lawyers, you have to be hardworking, determined and spend a fortune on your education and personal development. That way you wont end up earning peanuts. Recently, i wanted to employ a lawyer for my company and during the interviews, i was shocked at the level of performance and wondered if some even went to the same law school i passed through. How can i pay that person even 50k. Its waste of company funds.

megastu, i dare u to name ur firm,ur name and what ever credentials u lay claim on as relates to ur qualifications.how ca u be approbating and reprobating at the same time?u work with a firm that pays u 300 per month,and u want to employ a junior,where?if truely u think he ought not to earn 50k per month, then u ought to be crucified along with gani on judgement day.the juniors are actually d ones that do most brain work.no direction,no resources and only a meagre sum u pay and u expect them to tp,shelter and feed on that psaltry sum and even get married on it.well,note that u re still in bondage.if u graduated 2004 and u earn 300k per mth in another firm which is obviously not urs,i graduated 2007, have my own firm, employed 2 lawyers and a secretery, pay annual rent for office space at asokoro for 350k ie. 50k above wat u earn in another lawyers chamber,make an estimated 600k monthly.u re probably a yahoo boy who was so bored and decided to engage in using vexasious effizy online.were u a lawyer like u claimed,u wont be so arrogant to display ur ignorance.u claim u av an LLM.wats ur discipline?im sure u aint a lawyer.so my good friend, stop impersonating ok.

also note that as corpers u get paid allowance and not salary and by 2004,corpers were not paid that much.this goes to test the veracity of ur statement.conscience is an open wound only truth can heal.

lawyer:

My first salary was N8,000 for like 6 months and i moved to a swankier law firm in Ikoyi and they upgraded it to N15,000 Per month and after 2 months i realised that it wasnt worth it and old lawyers dont want younger lawyers to progress and in between they encourage a lot of sharp malpractice to woo in clients at the young lawyers expense. After that i realised that its not how long but how well and ended up setting up my own. The moment i did that, my older principals started congratulating me as being a smart guy and now they see me as their colleague.

Its a terrible system here and you just have to be smart and try and work towards establishing on your own in the nearest future unless these old lawyers wont encourage you for the life of it. Anyway the reason you are collecting that little amount is for the experience and to train you to be  self sufficient! Thats one of the reason i never liked Gani Fahwenhimi because his chambers was one of the pioneering firms that started this nonsense of undervaluing lawyers and paying them N5,000. Its just cheap labour and slavery in my own opinion and even the chief justice cannot justify such a wicked practice.

When I read the salary the man paid is lawyers (which he told a journalist), I was just flabbergasted. The amount was paltry, but now, I have to figure out if it's the norm in Nigeria for lawyers to be underpaid. How about going in-house?

This problem used to be worldwide but most countries have moved ahead.Before the advent of universities,professional courses like law,architecture and medicine was thought through apprenticeship and the student had to pay his master even after graduating in order to gain experience.This was carried over worldwide even after industrialization but some professions and countries have to an extent cut away from that practise where masters feel they are doing their employees a favour by employing them,hence paying them little or nothing.
I have a friend a reputable firm who earns 10k in a place like PH.I think this makes no sense.

Sorry, but, when you quote a salary amount, kindly include the reference year.

N10,000/month in 1998 isn't the same as N10,000/month in 2008.

The reference year will put the amount in the correct perspective.

Include the city, 'level'/type of firm, your highest qualification then (were you already claled to the bar or still preparing for bar exams, etc etc), then you'll be supplying good information.

solomonjay:

megastu, i dare u to name your firm,your name and what ever credentials u lay claim on as relates to your qualifications.how ca u be approbating and reprobating at the same time?u work with a firm that pays u 300 per month,and u want to employ a junior,where?if truely u think he ought not to earn 50k per month, then u ought to be crucified along with gani on judgement day.the juniors are actually d ones that do most brain work.no direction,no resources and only a meagre sum u pay and u expect them to tp,shelter and feed on that psaltry sum and even get married on it.well,note that u re still in bondage.if u graduated 2004 and u earn 300k per mth in another firm which is obviously not urs,i graduated 2007, have my own firm, employed 2 lawyers and a secretery, pay annual rent for office space at asokoro for 350k ie. 50k above wat u earn in another lawyers chamber,make an estimated 600k monthly.u re probably a yahoo boy who was so bored and decided to engage in using vexasious effizy online.were u a lawyer like u claimed,u wont be so arrogant to display your ignorance.u claim u av an LLM.wats your discipline?im sure u aint a lawyer.so my good friend, stop impersonating ok.

There is no need to insult Megastu. He did not insult anybody. I am a lawyer myself and I know what megastu said is very correct. there are law firms that pay up to 350k to 400k for lawyers. Although Megastu now works for a company that pays him up to 300k. I am aware of my colleagues who have moved into companies after working in law firms. Non of them now earns less than 300k. there is a corper in my office presently and my firm pays the corper 50k. Our secretaries earn about 80k. I know of a lawf irm that pays thier corpers 95k with blackberry.

Megastu was factual! You may find these to believe becos of what you might have heard, but Megastu and I just told the truth.

You have well paid and poorly paid in all professions, but many times peoeple's choices and acess to information can make a lot of difference.

Just like Megastu, I am not doing badly in law pratice working for a law firm although I intend to start my own firm soon. I was called to the bar 6 yrs ago, but I do not envy anyone in any profession because my needs are met and am fulfiled being a lawyer in private practice!

never knew lawyers can be paid such

I think people are losing track of the purpose of the thread.

It is the AVERAGE salary for a lawyer. Definitely there would be some who earn millions, but others are paid as little as 15,000 as stated above.

What we need knowing is the average across states in nigeria and different sectors.

snowdrops:

I think people are losing track of the purpose of the thread.

It is the AVERAGE salary for a lawyer. Definitely there would be some who earn millions, but others are paid as little as 15,000 as stated above.

What we need knowing is the average across states in nigeria and different sectors.

And where do you propose anyone would find this "average" data?

Questions with "average" wrt salaries are often ill-posed, and especially in a place like Nigeria.

What's useful is a figure with circumstances attached; that gives a better view than any quoted "average".

solomonjay:

megastu, i dare u to name your firm,your name and what ever credentials u lay claim on as relates to your qualifications.how ca u be approbating and reprobating at the same time?u work with a firm that pays u 300 per month,and u want to employ a junior,where?if truely u think he ought not to earn 50k per month, then u ought to be crucified along with gani on judgement day.the juniors are actually d ones that do most brain work.no direction,no resources and only a meagre sum u pay and u expect them to tp,shelter and feed on that psaltry sum and even get married on it.well,note that u re still in bondage.if u graduated 2004 and u earn 300k per mth in another firm which is obviously not urs,i graduated 2007, have my own firm, employed 2 lawyers and a secretery, pay annual rent for office space at asokoro for 350k ie. 50k above wat u earn in another lawyers chamber,make an estimated 600k monthly.u re probably a yahoo boy who was so bored and decided to engage in using vexasious effizy online.were u a lawyer like u claimed,u wont be so arrogant to display your ignorance.u claim u av an LLM.wats your discipline?im sure u aint a lawyer.so my good friend, stop impersonating ok.

Hmnnn. . . So much venom; why?

2 lawyer friends with about 7 years experience working for a company average between them N490,000 per month in salary (called to be bar about 7 years ago; work for a company in Lagos; salaries are February 2010 salaries; both have second degrees). What's the angst about? ther're well-paid lawyers, and ther're not-so-well-paid lawyers.

@snowdrops
   The average salary of lawyers is a delicate topic. mind you it is not the average income, and the average salary of lawyers that are new wigs is certainly different from those with many years of experience. i am a Lawyer and my first salary was 25 thousand (Abuja)  Lawyers get corporate briefs, those that know their way in land matters get briefs as well and earn EXTRA PAY (talking about average income now) so what you earn as a salary depends on the firm, location and level of experience and also your capacity to be very effective and market your self.

@ LAWYERS in the house

here is a list of Law firms/offices in nigeria , Lawyers in Nigeriaand it is left for you to decide where to go.
http://nigerianlawforum.com/index.php?topic=9.msg37;topicseen#msg37