Can a Lawyer Defend himself in Court or be Defended by another Lawyer?

Many people ask this question whenever they hear that a lawyer has a case in court. The common belief is that once someone is a lawyer, he will automatically defend himself. But courtroom practice is not always that simple.

Under Nigerian law, a lawyer can represent himself in court. There is no law that stops a lawyer from appearing in his own case. In fact, every person has the right to appear before a court and conduct his own case, so a lawyer who is trained in the law is also entitled to do the same.

However, once a lawyer is the one involved in the case, he is no longer just a lawyer. He becomes a party to the suit. This means he is wearing two different caps in the same proceeding;

•the cap of the litigant and;
• the cap of the counsel.

In practice, this is where some procedural issues begin to arise during trial.

For instance, if the lawyer representing himself is also a witness in the case, he cannot stand in the witness box and at the same time act as the lawyer asking the questions. Courtroom procedure does not allow a person to ask himself questions during examination-in-chief. When a witness enters the witness box, the lawyer conducting the case must be the one asking the questions.

So if the lawyer who filed the case needs to give evidence, he must step into the witness box like any other witness. At that point, another lawyer may have to conduct the examination-in-chief or the court may rely on his written witness statement as his evidence. After his evidence is taken and he steps down from the witness box, he can continue to conduct the case as counsel.

Another important thing many people do not know is that courtroom practice may differ slightly depending on the court. In Magistrate Courts, proceedings are generally less technical and the rules are applied with more flexibility. Self-representation happens more frequently there.

But in the High Court, proceedings are more structured because trials strictly follow the Rules of Court and the Evidence Act. Issues like examination-in-chief, cross-examination, re-examination and tendering of documents follow a more formal process. Because of this, when a lawyer is personally involved in a matter before the High Court, it is often more convenient to brief another lawyer to handle the advocacy, especially where witnesses will testify.

There is also the practical side of litigation. When someone is personally involved in a dispute, emotions can easily interfere with judgment. Cross-examination, objections and legal strategy sometimes require a level of detachment that is difficult when the lawyer is also the person affected by the case. This is why many experienced lawyers prefer to brief another colleague to represent them whenever they are parties to a case.

There is even a popular saying within the legal profession that “a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.” The point is not that the lawyer lacks knowledge of the law, but that personal involvement can sometimes cloud professional judgment.

So the simple answer is that a lawyer can defend himself in court, and he can also be represented by another lawyer. But once the lawyer becomes a witness in his own case, courtroom procedure makes self-representation more complicated, particularly during examination-in-chief and cross-examination.

That is why, in practice, many lawyers still choose to be defended by another lawyer when they find themselves involved in litigation.