As counsel, it is a given that matters must be properly filed for orderliness and ease of accessibility. The superior courts of record in Nigeria are presently on annual vacation (vacation courts excluded of course), with the reduced workload, the time is apt for litigation lawyers to give more attention to other areas such as office management. The big firms usually have these all sorted out, there is usually a dedicated office manager, an office assistant, the paralegal, etc. to handle those affairs, etc.
The time is apt to care for the Court files!
Ways to care for the court files include –
1. Keep them out of moisture.
2. Store them in cool and dry places.
3. Repair them, apply gum or cellotape to the torn files as much as you can.
Depending on your years of call, there is nothing out of place for a young lawyer to fix a torn file to make it appear neater. Or better still use a new file when the current file is not so intact any more.
4. Arrange them properly.
5. Study the current files, from time to time, recall to mind the files of the cases you have handled in the past.
6. Keep edibles away from files, as much as possible.
For those who eat while working on files, exercise caution to see that the edible does not get into the file.
7. Digitize your files if you can.
It is advisable to have a professional do that for you, especially if your office has many files.
8. Love those court files.
Thank you.
Stephanie Orji lawyers at Heptagon & Associates, a full service law firm in Abuja, Nigeria.
25-August-2024.