04/08/2026
Dear young lawyers, the courtroom vocabulary you want to learn is waiting for you in the law reports you run away from reading.
And you cannot address a Judge properly if you're deficient in the language of the law.
Sometime last year, I watched a young lawyer conduct her case in court.
2024 call yet bursting with confidence. I spotted the confidence, admired it and let her know it.
What struck me though, as I listened to her speak, was that although her stance was bold, her court vocabulary was not and it showed.
It always shows.
To make matters worse, her phone rang mid-address and she froze.
Luckily, I was sat next to her and sensed her internal panic. So I did what I would want anyone to do for me if I were in her shoes.
I grabbed the phone like we both owned it and silenced it without ceremony.
But here’s what I wish I had the chance to say to her:
Litigation, like romantic relationships, has a way of exposing our deepest flaws.
If you do not like to do any research, used to copying and pasting other people’s precedents.
You have not opened a law textbook or done any research since law school,
you will always be jittery in court and struggle to conduct a trial on your own because you will not have a ready response to unexpected objections.
If you gloss over important details, or regard excellence and a keen eye for detail as “oversabi”- doing too much
Then you are bound to meet your waterloo in practice, notorious for constantly relying on counsel on the other side to concede to your request for a stand down.
If you are an habitual latecomer, used to missing deadlines and doing everything last minute, waiting until you feel like it,
You will most definitely find litigation annoying.
Often times, your undoing will be a missing collarette,
an important process you forgot to serve the other party ahead of the court’s sitting,
a wig that could pass for a rat’s nest and a court robe that has not been touched by an iron in months.
If you do not honor your word,
if you are impulsive,
the type to keep malice,
Then you will struggle to maintain rich, robust professional relationships with fellow lawyers.
If you like to stay in your comfort zone or never push yourself beyond what is necessary,
You will never overcome the initial new wig’s apprehension of appearing before a judge.
Your heart will be in your mouth.
Your armpit, soaked with sweat. Once the dynamics change, you become confused and at your wit’s end.
And in case you are wondering why I know these so well, it’s because I’ve lived some of these experiences.
I have been there myself.
©️Taiwo Aromoralan