My English Bar Transfer Story: Application Stage (Part I)

Prologue: The Meeting at Lincoln’s Inn Common Room

It was a Friday. May 3. 2019. About 3 months since I left the shores of Nigeria to join my family in the UK. Professor Ike Ehiribe had scheduled a meeting with me at the Common Room of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.

Prof was waiting for me at the entrance of the Inn and I remembered commenting on his signature flat cap. Prof has been a mentor to me in many ways. He started his law practice in Nigeria then moved to the UK in the 90’s and thereafter transferred into the English bar. We are both members of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), although Prof is a fellow and accredited trainer at the Institute.

Our conversation began around 7:30pm. I remember walking to the train station some minutes after 11pm to catch a train home basking in the overwhelming feeling of euphoria and self-assurance. All my classmates (and indeed call-mates and juniors) who are in the UK all took the Solicitor route. The Bar is impossible. You’ll suffer. You didn’t even school in the UK. How do you intend to compete with those dudes from Oxbridge and Russell Schools? Lateef we know you’re insane but you just can’t pull this off. This is not Nigeria! But Prof had listened carefully to my story and validated my choice of the Bar: “Lateef… I moved to the UK in the 90’s and managed to transfer into the Bar… if I can do it then I don’t see why you can’t do it in 2019. I know it’s daunting but it’s doable…”

The over 4-hour long talk with Prof remains the most uplifting mentoring experience I’ve received till date. It was the clarity I sought and more. At least I was now assured of my suitability for the English Bar. I was further convinced that I’ll complete my fellowship of the CIArb in 2020. Finally I resolved to complete my accountancy training and attain the status of chartered accountant by 2021 God-willing. 

I remembered sipping my now cold coffee at the close of our talk and telling Prof, “If I ever become a Barrister in England… you’ll have a lien on my license…”

Generalist vs. Specialist: ‘a lawyer is someone who knows something about everything’

The only similarity betwixt Nigeria and UK legal system remains the shared Common Law origin. It ends there. In reality there are more nuanced yet burdensome choices for a UK legal professional that confuses me still. Perhaps the most obvious being the choice of Barrister-versus-Solicitor (there are legal executives, clerks, paralegals and law graduates who also operate in the legal industry without necessarily fitting squarely into any of the two divides). Then there’s the additional requirement to specialize. Law has no acceptable definition… a demand for specialization at entry level to the Nigerian in me is just unfathomable. I’ll get to this point further on.

In Nigeria you’re never burdened with such choices. No one has a right to hold himself out as a lawyer except he’s spent 5 years at the University and an additional year at the Nigerian Law School. You’re then admitted to the Nigerian Bar as a ‘barrister-and-solicitor’. Finally there’s the additional year-long National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) which also doubles as your pupillage.

I observed my pupillage (NYSC) in the Chambers co-founded by the former Attorney-General of Oyo State and the past Bar Chair of the State. I benefited from an ethical culture and unending workload.

Any law firm (or Chamber; there is no clear distinction due to the fusion of qualification) in Nigeria that that promotes a specialized practice is merely playing the game of alternative facts. I agree there are firms that do more litigation and less solicitor’s work (but every Nigerian lawyer does conveyance; it’s considered easy money). For instance, at the 2015 general election petition tribunal (sitting in Oyo State) I was miffed to find a partner from a Big City Firm (‘specializing in commercial law’) as counsel to a Respondent who won a Senatorial seat in the State. I remembered walking up to him and asking how he managed to transit effectively into election petition.

His response, ‘isn’t it the Law we’re doing here... besides I kinda enjoy the adrenaline and technicality of it all…’

Throughout my 5-year stint at the AG’s Chambers I never dabbled into criminal law. The only brush I had into crime was receiving a fiat from the State Government to privately prosecute about 4 counterfeiters in the State. The Complainant in that charge was the Institute of Survey Professionals of Nigeria. I managed the conviction of 3 out of the 4 persons charged (and I vowed thereafter never to act as prosecution counsel). I left the AG’s Chambers in 2016 to start a boutique Chamber. I had trained as an arbitrator and I wanted a break from daily court appearances (which pretty much summed up my existence up until that moment). My experience starting Chambers remains one of the most daunting tasks I have embarked upon till date. It’s both challenging and rewarding. Suddenly you were responsible for others. You had to manage clients, stay up-to-date with the law, find new income, network and manage the staff in Chambers… pheeew!

One thing co-founding my Chambers afforded me was the opportunity to be deliberate in my choice of casework. I decided the type of work I wished to engage in. There were many highs and lows. For instance winning a very high-stake and complex minority protection law suit which had sister cases in about 4 different courts… acting as lead defense counsel in arguably the most extensive criminal indictment into the Central Bank of Nigeria. The major lows were the days I felt I had no casework (on a bright side this was how I attained work-life-balance) and managing difficult clients.

So you can guess how dumbfounded I become when someone asks me in the UK to summarize my experience thus far… or tell us your area of specialization.

If you have a similar experience as mine, I recommend David Epstein’s book ‘Range’ (Why Generalists triumph in a specialized world). It makes an argument in favour of diversity of experience. 

It all begins with the Bar Standards Board (BSB)!

The Bar Council of England and Wales remains the most influential decision-making body regarding the affairs of the Bar. However, the Bar Standards Board is a body directly saddled with the responsibility of training, standard-setting and discipline of Barristers admitted to the Bar of England and Wales.

There are various routes to attain the Bar qualification. There was some need to fulfill the academic, vocational and post-call requirements before issuance of a full practice license. I broadly refer to the routes as direct or indirect. The direct route involves schooling in England (law or non-law) and then proceeding to law school to sit the Bar Professional Training Course (non-law students required a two-year Graduate Diploma in Law conversion before proceeding to law school). There’s the indirect route (for people like me). Solicitors in the UK, Common Law qualified lawyers from recognized jurisdictions, lawyers from the EU and Legal Academics (professors of law) all qualified to transfer into the English Bar under the indirect route. I’ll restrict myself to the Common Law qualified mode of entry (everything I say regarding other areas should rightfully be regarded as hearsay evidence). 

The relevant application form is available on the BSB’s website. The application form should be submitted along with a copy of your Academic Transcript (you needed to attain a minimum of a 2:2 to be eligible), a sealed copy of a letter of good standing from your Law Society (the Nigerian Bar Association), some means of identification, a copy of your CV and the application fee (440 GBP). Both academic transcript and letter of good standing ought to emanate directly from the relevant Institutions. As a practicing lawyer anything otherwise raises the question of propriety of custody and evidential weight. 

I remembered receiving a copy of my BSB decision letter whilst on a grocery run. It was a three-paged delight. Summarily, I had been granted a conditional permission to transfer into the English Bar. Partial exemption was further granted to me from the academic requirement of training (I’ll be sitting only part B of the BPTC namely: Advocacy, Ethics, Criminal Litigation and Civil Litigation), I had a reduction in pupillage (I’ll be observing 3-3 months of non-practicing and practicing pupillage respectively) and I was also permitted to join an Inn of Court with a reduction in Qualifying Sessions from 12 to 6 sessions! 

Joining an Inn of Court

Naturally I applied to join the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. Prof Ike Ehiribe is undoubtedly the strongest influence in this regard. But as a Nigerian Lawyer there’s the additional Lord Denning influence (Lord Denning MR was a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn) – if you studied law in Nigeria you’ll develop goosebumps at the mere mention of Lord Denning. The name Denning was also synonymous with academic excellence and we developed some slangs from his name. For instance if you scored an A in an exam your friends might exclaim, ‘you be Denning?’ (meaning, ‘are you Lord Denning?’).

To join an Inn of Court you started out with filling out the relevant joining application (Call Declaration Form, Equal Opportunity Form, Four Inns, Two sets of references). This is accompanied by your BSB decision letter, letter of good standing from the NBA, means of identification, CV and application fee (110 GBP).

Before moving on to the next section I’ll take the liberty to expound on the reference part of the application process. You required two referees to join the Lincoln’s Inn. I figured I needed to pick someone from the UK who knew me and someone from Nigeria who could also vouch for me. Naturally I sought Prof’s permission which he gave without hesitation. I then summoned the courage to ask my Arbitration mentor and arguably the most quintessential and debonair lawyer that I know in Nigeria – Mr. Adebayo Adenipekun SAN (the managing partner of the foremost advocacy Chambers in Nigeria, Afe Babalola & Co, and the current representative of Nigeria on the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Netherlands).

I had summoned the courage and sought his approval via email. His response:

“Good evening, Lateef,

I accept to be your referee without any reservation.

Wish you success in all your endeavors.”

I remembered shedding tears in my private study at those words (I’m a cry-baby). If you knew the learned Silk he is not one to waste time or words. It is because of amazing mentors like Prof Ehiribe and Mr. Adenipekun SAN that birthed my determination to pay it forward. It’s my hope that documenting my experience/challenges will inspire someone out there who decides to plunge into this less traveled path. Freely I’ve received… so I give unto thee freely…

Bar Transfer Test

I enrolled in the spring 2020 Bar Transfer Class of the BPP University Law School. I simply sent an email to the administrative team at the BPP. I received the application form as an attachment in a reply email. You are required to also submit the completed BSB application form (I’ll admonish you invested in a good 4-in-1 printer and scan all applications before dispatch), BSB decision letter, international passport and ID. The BPP only accepts a short-study visa for international students. I hold a valid Residence Permit that allows me legally reside and work in the UK. 

I paid a total of 3,301.15 GBP for the part B (ethics, advocacy, criminal litigation and civil litigation) training and assessment. The Bar Transfer test is built around a self-study mode. The only compulsory training to be received is the Advocacy training. However, I booked optional face-to-face training for the ethics, criminal and civil litigation modules. One can never go wrong with additional training to compliment your preparedness.

Without giving up too much, the BPP Law School has been an amazing platform so far. The VLE (virtual learning environment) and the online resources are simply breathtaking. My training/mock will be conducted in March and assessment in April. If all goes as planned I’ll (God-willing) be called to the English Bar in July 2020 (subject to availability of space).

Epilogue

There are a lot of individuals you’ll get to know in my journey. My family remains my primary source of inspiration in my life’s journey. My ride-or-die spouse, Dr. Zay, my exhausting kids (to borrow a phrase from Mr. Andrew Burr whom you’ll get to know in the next chapter), my dad whose lifelong sacrifices remains a source of sustenance, grandpa (a stoic/disciplinarian), my late grandma, siblings, aunts/uncles, in-laws, friends and colleagues. They all continually shape my resolve and determination to succeed.

We meet in the next chapter which hopefully drops on my birthday (April 28), about a week after my final assessment.

Wish me luck!