ZAMBIA – LAW STORIES ZAMBIA – WHY STORY-TELLING IS A BRIDGE TOWARD IMPROVING STANDARDS?

Today, Banking on Africa’s Future (BOAF) – #51 of the target 10,000 Points of Light (POL) had a conversation with a practicing lawyer who after a 40-minute conversation, on the absence of standards that can be used by clients to determine who possesses better common sense, maturity, reason, compassion, balance, and reason to be able to provide the kind of value that a client deserves especially having regard to the fact that standards or rational methods of discriminating bad lawyers do not exist.

Member #BOAF100051 said: “As a client, I have been frequently shocked that many providers of legal solutions genuinely believe that having been admitted to practice law in any jurisdiction gives them some monopoly to call themselves lawyers.

I believe that there can be no better time to build community power that can serve as a platform to share insights, experiences, knowledge, and ideas on what an EXCELLENT LAWYER looks like, and perhaps this will act as a client protection measure at this defining stage of human civilization in which technology exists to allow for the remote interface between a client and a potential legal services provider.

The legal practice industry is like religion where faith plays a key part in the value chain. When a Pastor promises one that if they choose to join the congregation, the prospects of getting a first-class ticket to imagined heaven are higher, the one must know what the end game is.

Lawyers trade on past experiences rather than on any superior knowledge about the problems that they wish to cash in on.

It is not unusual that a human being who carries the Identity of a lawyer would soon send a mandate letter to an unsuspecting client without even understanding the problem that needs to e solved.

It is rare to find a solo legal practice practitioner would agree that on corporate matters, his or her choice to go solo undermines the promise of the legal profession principally because experience in dealing with diverse legal problems does equip a service provider to use such experiences to add value to situations that may not have ready and known precedents.

What is a lawyer? The question may appear to be simple and stupid but the reality is that there is no shared understanding of what this profession is all about.

Only this morning, President Zuma’s criminal trial was to commence. The prosecutor representing the state submitted that President Zuma is now an expert in using unfounded defences to delay his day in court.

Mr. Downer made a proposition that his non-appearance today was tactical rather than bona fide.

The term STALINGRAD litigation strategies have now become associated with him. After his petition to the Supreme Court of Appeal was dismissed, he has now approached the Judge President of the SCA seeking a review of the 2-member Panel of the SCA that dismissed his petition and the question that arose is whether the Presiding Judge had any discretion in deciding on a matter that was pending before a Higher Court.

No lawyer can promise an outcome. It is true and a fact that judges are human beings who are not perfect.

What if judges are part of the problem in that they are susceptible to being compromised and money plays a big part in the legal value chains.”

Against the above background, the existence of a platform that was established in Zambia in 2019 but seems inactive now called Lawyer Stories Zambia https://ne-np.facebook.com/ZedLawyerstories speaks to the initiative of creating an UBER-like PLATFORM LAW BUSINESS MODEL that can operate on the www.edusyms.co.za platform that a member of BOAF has provided to BOAF – 10,000POL members.

The idea of sharing stories of providers (supply side) of legal solutions is not such a bad idea. This will allow future clients to have an insight into the credentials of lawyers before risking engaging them on the promise that being an admitted attorney is enough to believe that the beneficiary of your money lives up to the promise of his claims.

The platform necessarily has to involve the demand and supply side of the value chains. It is unfortunate that many clients even when let down by craft incompetent providers would rather be eloquent in their silence rather than be the voice of change.

Naming and shaming bad apples in the value chains, permits and inspires craft competence in an industry in which Law Societies are ineffective gatekeepers.

If you find the above topic of interest, please contact psmith@iniafrica.com.

BOAF LAW is an initiative to build a community of connected providers and clients who share a common belief that when knowledge and experiences are shared in an open and transparent manner, this allows for standards to be developed and more importantly for clients to discriminate against arrogant services providers who think they know all when they may know very little on the key questions that arise from any dispute.

Imagine a community of even 200 in a community of 10,000 POL is created for the 200 to tell their stories, would Africa not be better for this intervention.

The true purpose of BOAF LAW is to raise the flag of excellence in relation to this regulated profession in the knowledge that some of the best criminals are lawyers.

Where is WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING to be found when the people who pretend to be lawyers are parasitic and have no interest in solving problems but the money in the sham called legal practice?