For some reason, many--certainly not
all--Nigerian lawyers have been socialized into thinking that only they and
their profession are “learned.” That notion sprouts from a fundamental
misunderstanding of terminologies. Let me unpack them here for those who’re
interested.
“Learned profession” is
an old English expression traditionally used to refer to medicine, theology,
and law. They were called “learned” because of the disproportionately extensive
intellectual preparation required to qualify to practice them, particularly in
relation to the other vocations of the time. “Learned profession” never ever
exclusively referred to law.
In contemporary English
usage, any vocation that requires extensive specialized training is called a
“profession.” In other words, “profession” has now replaced “learned
profession.” If we were still to use the archaic expression “learned
profession,” many professions would be called “learned.” But, somehow, some
Nigerian lawyers are still stuck with the old expression—and erroneously think
only their craft is a “learned profession.”
“My learned friend”— or
“my learned colleague”— is a polite term of address that lawyers in British
courts use when they address each other, especially if they are opponents. The
term was introduced to enhance mutual courtesy in legal disputations.
Before the term was
introduced, lawyers who argued on opposite sides of a case never used to even
shake hands in the courts, and often used crude, coarse, unguarded putdowns to
undermine each other. So “learned colleague”—or its many variants—is merely a
term of courtesy, not an indication or claim of professional superiority in
Britain. Many Nigerian lawyers don’t seem to know this.
American lawyers,
for instance, don’t call each other “learned friend” or “learned colleague,”
nor do they call their profession a “learned profession” or, worse, the “only
learned profession”—as some self-important Nigerian lawyers tend to do.
It’s like American
senators who routinely refer to their colleagues as “distinguished senator” out
of conversational courtesy—just as British lawyers call each other “learned
friend” or “learned colleague”—even when the colleagues may not really be
“distinguished.” The Nigerian use of “distinguished senator” obviously owes
lexical debt to America since, in any case, our democracy is modelled after
theirs.
However, only
Nigerian senators capitalize the first letters in the expression, make it an
honorific, and prefix it to their names, such as “Distinguished Senator (First
name) (Last name).” In fact, “distinguished” has now become a standalone title,
as if the word were a noun. This would strike Americans, from whom it's borrowed,
as quaint and comical.
In American English, the
phrase typically occurs this way: “I disagree with the distinguished senator
from Georgia” or “The distinguished senator from Oregon made a great point,”
etc. In other words, “distinguished senator” is only a phrase, not a title.
“Distinguished Senator (First name) (Last name)” is as ridiculous as lawyers
being addressed as “Learned Colleague (First name) (Last name).”
© Farooq Kperogi
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