The Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) has partnered with LawPavilion, a legal tech startup, to streamline the application process for conferring the status of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Chief Justice of Nigeria Ibrahim Muhammad said this while swearing in 72 lawyers elevated to the rank.
According to Ope Olugasa, the CEO of LawPavilion, the automation will help the secretariat and members of the LPPC to carry out their functions more effectively and efficiently.
What LawPavilion does
LawPavilion is Africa’s leading legal technology company. The startup has an array of products for legal practitioners, judges, academics, and students who employ information technology to enhance the way law is practiced in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
The startup, which was founded by Ope Olugasa, has offices across Africa’s epicenter, Nigeria, with a purpose to develop superior solutions that anticipate and meet the demands of 21st-century legal professionals. Their knowledge of the law, as well as their use of cutting-edge information technology to boost production and profitability, allows them to develop practical and well-suited tools for the industry.
LawPavilion Electronic Law Reports (LPELR), the startup’s flagship product, is Africa’s most widely accepted and citable Electronic Law Report.
What they are saying
Chief Justice of Nigeria Ibrahim Muhammad said “Most of us here are aware of how tedious the process of conferring the coveted rank of SAN on aspiring applicants has been for the applicants, the LPPC, and the Secretariat.
“Thankfully, a new era has come now, as the LPPC has taken a giant step in pioneering the digital transformation of the legal industry, starting with the SANship conferment process, by partnering with the foremost LegalTech Solution Company – LawPavilion to automate the application process, end-to-end.
“Consequently, from next year, application for the conferment of the rank of SAN will no longer be done manually but digitally.
“The automation of the application process will ensure that the application and conferment process is seamless, faster – as it requires lesser paperwork, and easier for the Secretariat and the LPPC.
“Also, the automation will make it easier for returning applicants as they will not have to re-submit documents that they may have submitted in their earlier application.
“I am confident that this move will put the Nigerian legal industry in the same pedestal as the legal industries of other climes where technology has been embraced to make processes faster and more efficient.”
Chief Executive Officer of LawPavilion, Ope Olugasa, expressed his gratitude to the LPPC for allowing the firm to be part of the giant stride.
He said: “The essence of digitalization is mainly to ensure efficiency by reducing time, effort, and cost as each task is performed seamlessly online, at any time and from anywhere, whilst eliminating human error.
“With the digitalization and automation of the application process, applicants will have access to the portal any time of the day throughout the application window – whether during the day or at night.
“Because it is an end-to-end digitalization, applicants can obtain their forms, fill the forms and upload the usually humongous relevant supporting documents online without having to print tons of documents, thereby saving cost and time.
“With this automation, returning applicants will not have to re-submit documents that they may have submitted in their earlier application as they will have their account where their documents will be archived.
“Surely, Training sessions and videos will be organised to handhold applicants in going through the process.”