BusinessDay 15 Feb 2018

28 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday 15 February 2018
INDUSTRYFILE
SBL offers Indiana University scholarship to young lawyers
As part of its Mentorship Programme
for young lawyers, the Nigerian Bar
Association - Section on Business
Law (NBA-SBL) in collaboration with
the Indiana University Maurer School
of Law has announced a Scholarship fund of
$59, 888 to young lawyers who wish to participate
in the Indiana University Maurer School of
Law LL.M degree programme under the “SBL
Scholars Program” 2018.
In a statement released by the SBL Young
Lawyers Committee, the Chairperson of the
committee, Olubukola Olabiyi stated that interested
persons are expected to apply for the
scholarship, which will cover costs for Tuition &
Fees, Accommodation, Health Insurance and a
budget for miscellaneous expenses.
“The Scholarship which covers only the total
cost of earning an LL.M degree at the Maurer
School of Law also includes the opportunity to
serve as a research fellow at the Indiana University
Maurer School of Law’s Stewart Center on
the Global Legal Profession and is only open to
Young Lawyers who are active members of the
SBL,” the statement disclosed.
In the same vein, all applications, which will
be submitted to the “SBL Scholars Programme
Selection Committee”, should be received by
Friday, 30th March 2018.
According to the organisers, each candidate
is expected to have successfully secured an LL.M
Admission with the Indiana University Maurer
School of Law as well as meet the requirements
set out in the SBL Scholars Program criteria, set
out hereunder. The applications are also to be
accompanied by a thousand-word paper with
the title: “How my work will be enhanced by a
postgraduate degree at the Indiana University
Maurer School of Law”.
The Indiana University Maurer School of Law
is said to run one of the oldest LL.M. programs
in the United States. The law school is currently
ranked 11th among public institutions in the
United States and 30th overall by U.S. News and
World Report. It recently received an A+ rating
from The International Jurist magazine for its LL.M.
program in all four rating categories. The Indiana
University Maurer School of Law is one of only two
schools in the U.S. to achieve this distinction. The
law school is located in Bloomington, on Indiana
University’s flagship campus.
Further, the Stewart Center’s mission is to engage
in first-rate scholarship and research, examining
the legal profession from both an empirical and
global perspective. The Center’s faculty serves as a
resource on issues related to the legal profession
for the bar, bench, corporate citizens, and public
servants in the United States and globally; and
critically, the Center’s mission includes training
the students to become adept at practicing in this
globalising legal environment.
The Center aims to create a new approach
for educating students about the legal profession;
with the hope to prepare students who are
aware of the pressures and influences on the
profession. It seeks to have them study the best
research on issues currently affecting lawyers,
such as globalisation, the commoditization of
legal services, increased lateral mobility, shifts
in generational attitudes, heightened cost pressures
from clients, the diverse role of lawyers in
business, the decline of civil trials, and the growing
awareness of the importance of such skills as
emotional intelligence.
Criteria for Scholarship Qualification are as
follows:
1. The “SBL Young Lawyers’ Committee Post-
Graduate (LL.M) Scholarship 2018” is free to
enter. It is open to all Young lawyers who are a
maximum of 7 years post call to the Nigerian Bar
and who are active and participating members of
the SBL interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree
in aspects of business or commercial law;
2. Applicants must fulfill ALL the criteria
for admission into the Indiana University Maurer
School of Law LL.M. program;
3. Applicants must be Nigerian citizens up
to and including the age of 32;
4. Applicants must be working in a law firm
or as in-house counsel, in a corporate entity and
must have graduated with a Second Class, Upper
Division (2:1) either from the university or
from the Nigerian Law School. Persons already
possessing post-graduate degrees from any
tertiary institution will not be eligible for this
grant;
5. Applicants must have verifiably participated
in, at least, one SBL Annual Business
Law Conference or activity as well as must be in
Good Standing with the NBA (must have paid
Bar Practising Fees, SBL Membership Dues and
NBA Branch Dues as and when due);
6. Applicants must have neither a record
of professional misconduct nor criminal allegations/conviction
and upon application, submit
character and professional references from
their current employer signed by a Partner or
the Head of Legal/General Counsel/Company
Secretary of the law firm or company respectively;
7. Applicants must submit a “Formal
Application” and a written essay of no more
than 1000 words on the subject: “How my work
will be enhanced by a postgraduate degree at
the Indiana University Maurer School of Law”.
The text should be double-spaced and each
paper must contain the author’s name and professional
contact information on the front page;
8. Applicants must submit a sworn affidavit
from any superior court deposing to his/her
clear willingness to immediately return to Nigeria
on completion of this postgraduate degree;
Second Edition of Paul Usoro Challenge kicks off!
9. This $59,888 USD Scholarship to Young
Lawyers will cover only costs for Tuition & Fees, Accommodation,
Health Insurance and a budget for
miscellaneous expenses. Applicants must therefore
also provide satisfactory evidence to support their
other ancillary costs including but not limited to
logistics, feeding and flight costs, etc.;
10. Applications and Essays must be sent by
e-mail, preferably as Word documents or in PDF
format to “The SBL Scholars Programme Selection
Committee” at the SBL Secretariat (sblscholars@
nbasbl.org) on or before close of business on Friday,
30th March 2018;
11. The SBL Scholars Programme Selection
Committee will consist of the Officers of the
SBL. They will screen the applications and essays
primarily on the basis of professionalism, precision
and clarity of thought, legal argumentation,
research, style, logic, originality and overall quality
of content. An international, rather than a strict
domestic approach would be appreciated. Factors
such as financial need and geographical diversity
may also be considered;
12. It is planned that the SBL will communicate
the Scholarship Committee’s decision to the
winners and possibly any additional finalists by the
end of April 2018 at the e-mail address indicated
by them in their Applications; and shortlisted candidates
will be invited for an interview which they
must attend with original copies of all relevant credentials,
their resumes and international Passport
data pages. This is to enable them commence the
Summer Start Programme in July 2018;
13. The decision of the SBL Scholars Programme
Selection Committee is final and no correspondence
will be entered into. The decision will
also be published on the SBL website;
14. Employees of the SBL, Relatives of SBL
Council and Executive Committee Members or any
SBL Committee and members of the SBL Scholars
Programme Selection Committee are excluded
from the competition;
15. PLEASE NOTE: If you are awarded the
SBL Young Lawyers’ Committee Post-Graduate
(LL.M) Scholarship, you will be required to provide
evidence of successful admission to the Indiana
State University, Maurer School of Law;
16. PLEASE NOTE FURTHER: if you are
awarded the SBL Young Lawyers’ Committee Post-
Graduate (LL.M) Scholarship you will be required
to confirm your participation by providing proof
of your ability to travel and copies of your travel
documents; and
17. Successful Applicants will be expected
to have read and accepted all the above rules.
The Law Firm of Paul Usoro & Co (PUC)
has announced the commencement of
the second edition of the Paul Usoro (Pro-
Bono) Challenge themed, ‘My Pro Bono Story’.
The Challenge, which kicked off on Friday
February 9th 2018 is an initiative of Paul Usoro,
SAN.
The maiden edition, won by Abasiodiong
Ekpeyong, was determined by an external evaluation
committee made up of great legal minds
such as Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, SAN, Abimbola
Akeredolu, SAN and Essien Udom.
According to Munirudeen Liadi, Head of
Chambers at PUC “The decision was made to
give a chance to more Lawyers between 1-15
years at the Bar to showcase and inspire colleagues
with their touching Pro Bono cases, as
against the 1-10 criteria at the last edition.”
The initiative is aimed at rewarding the selfless
and sacrificial efforts of lawyers who go the
extra mile to defend the defenseless, ultimately
restoring confidence in and respect to the rule
of Law in Nigeria
This second edition will focus on humanitarian
issues, with special attention to Law enforcement
agents’ brutality, Gender related issues,
and Child abuse. The 6 most compelling cases
will be rewarded with N100,000 each.
Each participant is expected to create a short
Paul Usoro, SAN
video (Max 2 Minutes) which could be shared via
Instagram, Facebook or via email (puchallenge@
gmail.com). All video entries via Instagram
& Facebook are required to use the hash-tag
#PAULUSOROCHALLENGE for the videos to
be discovered.
The organisers also disclosed that there will
be extra points for Law enforcement agents’
brutality, gender related cases, child abuse and
humanitarian matters.
Also speaking about the Challenge, another
member of the organising team said, “All entries
must meet the above listed requirements before
they are considered valid. Acceptance of entries
will end on the 9th of March, 2018, after which a
panel of external judges will decide the winners
which will be announced vide the official Paul
Usoro Instagram handle in April, 2018.
As with the last edition, past and present PUC
lawyers are still not allowed to take part in the PU
Challenge. This time, participants in the maiden
edition of PU Challenge are not also allowed to
participate.
Lawyers to participate include, Members of
the Nigerian Bar, of 1-15 years’ experience, who
have paid their practicing fees and entries will be
selected on a zonal basis (6 geographical zones).
There will be 1 winner per zone; for outstanding
Pro- Bono cases handled.
In the last edition, lawyers between year 1 to
10 at the Bar were invited to submit entries via
a short video to be posted on Instagram (max
of 2 minutes) with the hash-tag #PAULUSORO-
CHALLENGE providing information about the
pro-bono matter personally handled by them.
Participants were required to submit supporting
documents to a designated email address. The
deadline for receiving entries for the Challenge
was Friday, 10 November 2017.
A total of 9 entries were received from lawyers
between 1 to 5 years at the Bar practicing in
Benue, Ebonyi, Kwara, Lagos, Cross River, Akwa
Ibom, and Delta States. 4 geopolitical zones –
North Central, South West, South South and
South Eastern regions participated.
Result of the Evaluation: Only one entry
satisfied all the criteria for the Challenge.
A good number of entries received did not
meet the critical qualification criteria that
the case must be at trial stage. Some participants
did not provide sufficient documentary
evidence in support of their entries. Other
entries showed the applicants’ role in the matters
was either very minimal, or merely a pro bono
case handled by the law Firm but not the participant.
Consequently, 8 entries were adjudged
not compelling enough to win the Challenge.
The Winner, Abasiodiong Ekpenyong received
a prize of N100, 000. 00. Usoro, however
directed that all the entrants be encouraged with
consolation prizes of N50,000.00 each for efforts.
Ogechukwu Mary Ulasi; Emmanuel Nnamdi Offiah;
Iniobong Sunday Udoh; Adam Muhammed
Ndakudu, Dayo Majeed, Kelvin Lorzenda, Yusuf
Olarewaju Afeez & Ogonnaya Ukachukwu will
receive their prizes accordingly.