The agony of a junior lawyer
Most of the times, the court clerks give them a hard time simply because they are not old enough. This is probably the only profession where men welcome balding, grey hair and tummy coming out
Barrister Quazi Maruful Alam
If you see a person early in the morning wearing black coat, sweating and running in a manner of a lunatic adjacent to the court area, be sure that you are confronted with a junior lawyer or law associate. They are considered as a species in our society that are living with us but always remain unnoticed.
For becoming a junior advocate one has to get at least a LLB (Hons) degree from any recognized university and an enrollment certificate of Judges Court from Bangladesh Bar Council. Unfortunately, these Honours degree holders daily earning is sometime Tk 100 per day or most of the time they dont receive any, whereas a daily labour at least get Tk 300 for his whole day work. Consequently, being an advocate seems to be a royal profession where you can only survive if you have strong financial background or posh family connection. One usually sees the colourful side of the profession including name, fame and media coverage but the dark side of the profession is unknown to the general public.
People who are starting afresh have to go through the tiring process. As a result, students completing LLB/LLM are more prone to join the judiciary. Students who have good academic background do not want to go through this hassle and therefore they are found to join in a safer profession where they can lead a smoother and honourable life. Some people give up trying leaving a permanent scar in their mind for this profession.
In UK people who are doing juniorship are known as pupil and they receive a good amount of fixed remuneration. But such a rebellious step is beyond imagination in our country. At present only students, having passion for practice, are coming to this profession. Unfortunately, in our country most of the leaders of the lawyers are very much akin to our politicians. At the time of vote of bar council/bar association, they promise to accomplish almost impossible but in reality once they get elected completely forget the junior lawyers. The role of Bar Association of different districts is questionable from the very beginning. No seminar or symposium is organized for the junior advocates on a regular basis by this so-called lawyers association to hone their skill. They are mostly busy with party politics and bail business by exploiting their position.
Believe it or not, the only reason why the young lawyers are embracing this crushing life is: they just want to learn something from their seniors but in many cases this is a mirage. Seniors are often reluctant to teach their pupil in fear of their position being hijacked. The work-life balance is a word which is a total taboo for the juniors. They hardly can give any quality time to their family. Most of the seniors go to their house after finishing the court and then return to their chamber around 7-8 pm. Thereafter, they continue to do their chamber work up-to 11 or 12 am. Consequently the junior lawyer has to stay at workplace from 9am-12 pm ignoring totally their family life. Regrettably the seniors hardly pay any attention to this issue.
Uncertainty is another obstacle what the junior lawyers have to deal with. After working 2-3 years for free, no one knows whether you will be able to get your own case or not. Sometimes it happens that after striving 4-5 years in this profession you are going back home empty handed or joining a service in an entry level which is not less than a near death situation. Youngster motivated by the projected image of the senior lawyers fall as an easy prey and rush towards this profession. Unfortunately another hurdle is sometimes seen in this profession for female advocates where their senior advocates try to take advantage of their vulnerable situation. Though this happens to every profession, a royal profession like advocateship should have been free from this obscene issue.
Beside this, court life in your juniorship days is pretty gloomy as well. Most of the times, the court clerks give them a hard time simply because they are not old enough. This is probably the only profession where men welcome balding, grey hair and tummy coming out.
The seniors of this profession need to feel the pulse of the junior lawyers. They should get hold of the fact that the junior plays a very vital role and contributes significantly in determining the final outcome of a given case. A little bit more sympathy and encouragement of the seniors could attract more brilliant youngsters to join and explore this dynamic profession.
The writer is an Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh Adjunct Faculty, State
University of Bangladesh
