PROFESSIONAL ETHICS — Legal Practitioners — Authentication of Processes — Firm Name Cannot Sign Court Processes
Principle Statement
For a person to be qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria, he must have his name on the roll of legal practitioners. A firm name, being a collective entity, is not a person entitled to practice as a barrister and solicitor and therefore cannot authenticate or sign court processes.
Ratio Decidendi (Source)
Per Onnoghen, JSC, in Okafor & Ors v. Nweke & Ors (2007) NLC-123-27-2002(SC) at p. 5; Paras A–C.
"From the above provision, it is clear that the person who is entitled to practice as a legal practitioner must have had his name on the roll. It does not say that his signature must be on the roll but his name. ... The combined effect of the above provisions is that for a person to be qualified to practice as a legal practitioner he must have his name in the roll otherwise he cannot engage in any form of legal practice in Nigeria."
Explanation / Scope
Only natural persons who are duly called to the Nigerian Bar and whose names appear on the roll of legal practitioners can engage in legal practice. A partnership or firm, regardless of the presence of Senior Advocates within it, is not a legal person capable of being called to the Bar. Therefore, any process signed only with the firm’s name (e.g., “J.H.C. Okolo SAN & Co.”) without the individual signature of a named legal practitioner is incompetent and liable to be struck out.
