LSK needs servant leader who’ll drive members agenda

By Charles Kanjama
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About the turn of the century, I attended two job interviews. One was in a leading audit firm and the other in a respected law firm. During the partners’ phase of the audit firm interview, I was asked, “Now that you have studied law for four years and also done accountancy, will you be content in an audit engagement?” I had pondered the question before it was asked, and so my answer at the time was clear, “Honestly, I would like to first practise as a lawyer, or do law-related work...” Don’t ask me why, then, I had gone through the interview process until that stage. I guess it was the challenge.

Shortly thereafter, I was asked by a senior law partner in a different job interview: “Since you are a qualified accountant, why do you want to waste your time by joining a law firm?” I must say the second question surprised me, or rather the level of cynicism in it. It struck me that a senior lawyer was the one trying to dissuade me from joining the noble profession. And honestly, at that time, the profession was going through a difficult time. Even its reputation was in tatters due to dishonest lawyers, leading to the two-cheque payment controversy involving lawyers, insurers and accident victims.

So it was with a baptism of fire that I joined the profession. Also with an inner resolve that the profession should prove better for me than accountancy, despite the initial opportunity cost of doing pupillage in a law firm where my monthly take-home was only 20 per cent of the starting pay in the audit firm. Similarly, my resolve was also to do what I could in the service of the profession to make it better for my having joined it.

So for over 10 years, I have constantly exercised myself on how I can improve within the profession, and also how the profession I chose can improve with me. Because my first notable encounter with an advocate was pessimistic, I chose to be ever optimistic about the legal profession and its practitioners. And in the last two years after joining the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council and as we implemented the Constitution, I came to realise that I had indeed joined a powerful and illustrious profession.

The star of the legal profession is shining bright, its lustre brightened by its various prominent members who continue to serve this country in important positions, in the three arms of government as well as civil society, in corporate as well as private practice. Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto explained in his perceptive book, “The Mystery of Capital”, that one of the big weaknesses of developing countries’ economies is the lack of reach, effectiveness and sophistication of their legal systems, which should play an important role in facilitating business and all other social and economic endeavours.

So I believe that the true capacity of LSK is the combined capacity of its members; and that the legal profession has an ever-expanding capacity to absorb its members’ talents and help them to thrive in their chosen practice areas, and thus help the entire country thrive. But it is also undeniable that the legal profession in Kenya today is still rather far from achieving its potential. Young lawyers, in-house lawyers and small private practitioners, both in Nairobi and the branches, often feel the unforgiving side of a career in the law, even while consumers of legal services yearn for better service delivery.

The LSK Chairman therefore needs a real and continuing commitment to practice matters, members’ welfare and service delivery. With innovative approaches to fiscal sustainability and consistent promotion of member participation in its activities, the law society can aim for its true potential. This requires real commitment to the continued improvement of LSK and of the legal profession. In other words, LSK needs a driven person who as a servant leader can drive this agenda forward.

As LSK’s elections loom closer, just one month away, it is time for Kenyan lawyers especially to reflect on these issues as we seek to renew the Society’s leadership.

Some friends and colleagues have asked me why I have offered myself for election as LSK chairman. The honest truth is a mixture of both pragmatism and idealism. As a current Council member, I qualify to vie for the seat, and this is as good a time as any.

But ultimately I’m convinced now is the time for a renewed emphasis on the bread and butter issues that really matter to lawyers. And that, simply, is my commitment.