Chief Justice Challenges Legal Brains To Embrace Modern Trends To Meet Clientèle Needs

The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, has asked Legal Practitioners to adapt to changes in the legal fraternity, to be able to respond to the needs of their clients both locally and internationally.

She said the practice of law has moved beyond the Court room and the filing of writs of summons, and that the changing times demand the introduction of a special practice of law.

Mrs Justice Georgina Wood said this when she commissioned an ultra modern West Africa Head Office of AB and David, a business legal firm in Accra.

The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Woode, intimated that clients are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and now demand value for money. They are therefore looking for lawyers who understand business.

She also, bemoaned the resistance of some lawyers to adapt to the fast changing legal environment.

She said the days of one man practitioner appear to be numbered and local firms must look at building modern legal practices that respond to the needs of modern clients.

The reliance on oratory and advocacy skills must be accompanied by deeper understanding of the problems of clients and the rules of the modern justice system.

Mrs Justice Wood said the increasing importance of arbitration and dispute resolution in the African context is a reflection of the global growth in international business.

She, therefore, wondered why some lawyers cannot co-operate to help clients resolve non-contentious issues, instead of running to the court room with every little issue which has resulted in backlog of cases at the court.

Mrs Jusitice Wood commended AB and David for setting the pace as one of the very few Ghanaian law firms which operates at such high international standards, and urged other law firms to aspire to such standards, and raise the image of the legal profession and practice in Ghana.

For her part, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong, said the legal environment demands quality service, and so emphasised the need for practitioners to adapt to the changes to enable them to respond adequately to the needs of their clients.