THE LAWYERS COFFEE

 This episode will venture into a sphere of documentation that most people take for granted that is *Tidiness*

 According to Oxford Dictionary , tidiness is the act, ways of  being smart, neat, well arranged in good time, right time, and so on. We say thus be putting the concept of tidiness under advisement in two different forms, viz- first as it relates to papers and second as it related to digital documentations.
 
 The episode therefore puts into sharp focus and into the light of verity, the exigencies of having documents tidied up in such a way as to ease finding them and also for reference purposes. It is trite that *documents create a paper reality we call proof*

 In the first instance, the document as a paper would be examined. As an advocate, when we start out, our paper work is always little but this will change in little time as we become more sophisticated, the number of pages will grow to 50 to 100 to 500 and even more. As a matter of veritable fact, lawyers do less of talking and arguments in courts now and more of filing briefs. In that regard, whatever it is a lawyer is going to present in the court, e must have filed them beforehand- a concept called *front loading*.

 The importance of having documents tidied up can therefore not be overemphasised. But more importantly *tidy papers mean a focused mind*. If your papers are a mess, then usually so is your case, and so are you. So we must, as early as we can, advert our minds to the nitty-gritty of having a good paper management culture.

 At the Bar of England and Wales, papers often arrive loose, tied in red or white ribbon. So it is suggested that every brief should go in a *ring binder*. This may mean punching the paperwork. The following hints will be helpful:

--Start with your first page as the backsheet which identifies the parties and court.

--Then the indictment or pleadings.

-- Then the instruction.

-- Then the proof from the clients.

-- Then the proof from the client.

--Then the witness statements.

-- Then the unused materials.

--Then the correspondence.

--Then the advices you have written.

We should know where every piece of paper is and how to find it within 10 seconds.

And the act of assembling the brief in this way leads to 3 things.

-- you will naturally see how the case fits together.

--you will know where to place further material as they arrive

--you will feel on top of the Case.

It's an easy stuff, so please let's follow the rules and instruction under document management.

Note: *once a habit is made of arranging files and documents through a conscious effort made at making sure they are tidied up, the lawyer will find that assembling the paper works becomes an act of "owning the case" and it becomes a professional pleasure*

THE LAWYERS COFFEE: *A spry polemic on how to seriously good in court*

COMPILED BY
*AGBOOLA MARIAM*
LAW PART ONE
FACULTY OF LAW
OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY
17th day of October, 2017