5.4. Data presentation phase 2: Law firms
5.4.2. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) application at the law
In question 4, table 21 below, respondents were requested to indicate the availability of Internet access in their law firms.
Table 21: Availability of Internet access in law firm Response Number %
Yes 141 70%
No 57 28%
No response 4 2%
Total 202 100%
N=202
Data from question 4, table 21 above shows access to the Internet by the law firms at 70% while 28% indicated they had no Internet access. The use of ICT and other electronic resources partially depends on the extent of internet access, which has sometimes constituted a
challenge for legal practitioners in Nigeria. Total responses recorded were 98%, while 2% did not respond.
Data in question 5 sought to investigate the application of ICT to legal tasks in the law firms.
Data is shown in table 22 below.
Table 22: Tasks related to the use of ICT in the law firms
Task Yes No Don’t know
Conducting legal research. 143
(71%) 41
(20%) 1
(0%) Sending and receiving e-mail. 135
(69%) 48
(24%) 0
- Preparation of court cases and
enhancing work and professional productivity.
132
(65%) 47
(23%) 2
(1%) Improving legal knowledge. 121
(60%) 57
(28%) 2
(1%) Communicating with other law
firms. 97
(48%) 84
(42%) 0
- Accessing the current decisions
of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 80
(40%) 94
(47%) 2
(1%) Drafting of legal reports. 72
(36%) 109
(54%) 2
(1%) Accessing state statutes
amendments and national Acts. 73
(36%) 98
(49%) 5
(3%) Accessing electronic journals,
books and other resources. 69
(34%) 104
(52%) 2
(1%) International transactions and
electronic business. 62
(31%) 111
(55%) 6
(3%) Access the current decisions of
the High Courts in Nigeria. 45
(22%) 129
(64%) 2
(1%)
Not used at all. 11
(5%) 0
- 0
-
Advertising. 6
(3%) 173
(86%) 7
(4%) N=202
Investigation into the use of ICT by law firms in question 5 table 22 above reveals that 71%
of ICT is employed for conducting legal research, sending and receiving e-mails 69%, preparation of court cases 65%, improving legal knowledge 60% and communicating with other lawyers 48%, while 5% indicated that ICT is “not used at all” in their firms. The category with the highest level of reported non-use is advertising at 86%, with 64% of lawyers also indicating that ICT is not used for “accessing state statutes amendment and national Acts”. Other categories of non-use include international transactions and electronic business at 55%, “accessing electronic journals, books and other resources” at 52%,
compared with 34% of firms that did use ICT for this purpose. The responses in the “don’t know” column were relatively lower with only a 5% response in the category for
“advertising”. Respondents were required to select more than one option.
The past few years have witnessed a large increase in the provision of local electronic databases in Nigeria, many of which contain full-text primary and secondary legal research
resources and indexes. The accessibility of these resources has greatly influenced the information use of legal practitioners in Nigeria.
Table 23: Availability of electronic resources in the law firms
Response Number %
Yes 77 38%
No 94 47%
No response 31 15%
Total 202 100%
N=202
Question 6a table 23 above shows the availability of e-resources in the law firms at 38%, while 47% indicated they did not have electronic resources. Among the listed electronic resources available in the law firms as shown in question 6b, table 24 below are Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria 19%, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 18%, Law reports of the courts of Nigeria 16% and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 7%.
Table 24: Electronic databases available in law firms
Database Yes % No %
Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
39 19% 34 17%
Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 36 18% 38 19%
Law reports of the courts of Nigeria 32 16% 42 21%
Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria 14 7% 59 29%
N=202
However, higher percentages are indicated for lack of access to these electronic databases, as shown in the table 24 above - Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (29%), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 19%, Law Reports of the Courts of Nigeria 21% and Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria 17%. Other local electronic databases cited include CompuLaw, Legalbrief Africa and Election petitions reports. In answering this question, the law firms were invited to tick more than one option.
Access to foreign legal electronic databases in question 6c table 25 below shows a higher percentage of lack of availability in the law firms with respect to the following – HeinOnline 36%, Westlaw 35%, Find Law 33%, Lexis Nexis 29% and LexisNexis Butterworth’s 27%.
Access to these resources however, shows LexisNexis Butterworth’s at 9%, Lexis Nexis 7%, Find Law 4%, Westlaw 2% and Hein Online 0%.
Table 25: Foreign electronic databases available in law firms
Database Yes % No %
Lexis Nexis Butterworth’s 19 9% 54 27%
Lexis Nexis International 14 7% 59 29%
Find Law 7 4% 66 33%
Westlaw 3 2% 70 35%
Hein Online 1 0% 72 36%
N=202
The analysis of these questions (6a, 6b and 6c) provides a general picture of the context of the use of legal electronic databases among legal practitioners in Nigeria which to some extent suggests a gradual shift in the conduct of legal practice in Nigeria. The impact of these changes is reflected in some of the responses of the law firms in question 6d especially with respect to speed and efficiency in legal practice and legal research, easy access to current legal authorities, availability of resources in international comparative law, ease in drafting and use of precedents and better client services. Specifically, 15% of the respondents reported greater efficiency and productivity in legal practice due to the availability of these resources, while 9% of the respondents indicated greater ease in legal research. As stated by one of the respondents “it has made legal research easier and faster while giving the researcher a wide range of authorities and materials to use in the preparation of a case. It is indeed a modern working tool for legal practitioners”. Seven percent of the respondents also stated that the availability of foreign legal databases in particular has helped to provide a global outlook to handling cases in such areas as environmental law which requires the application of
comparative law and modern principles of law. Seven percent of the respondents indicated that availability of electronic resources has enabled access to recent court decisions of the Supreme Court of Nigeria as well as legislations and amendments by the National Assembly, increased speed in drafting and filing of court processes and incorporation of companies. Five percent also indicated better client satisfaction for work completed within reasonable time frames due to the availability of electronic resources.
However, among some of the challenges highlighted in question 7a (table 26 below) in accessing legal electronic databases include “poor internet access” 20%, “difficulty in finding relevant legal information” 16%, “poor ICT skills” 9%, “limited access to computers” and
‘lack of time” 4%. Other problems include poor electricity supply, high cost of subscription fees, poor network service providers and so on.
Table 26: Challenges of using e-resources in law firm
Challenge Number %
Poor internet access 40 20%
Difficulty in finding relevant legal information 32 16%
Poor ICT skills 19 9%
Limited access to computers 8 4%
Lack of time 8 4%
No response 95 47
Total 202 100%
N=202
Despite these challenges, data in question 7b table 27 below shows 88% of respondents indicated they had subscriptions to print and electronic resources, while 3% indicated they did not subscribe to these resources. Most of these resources subscribed to were local journals in printed format.
Table 27: Subscription to print and electronic resources by the law firms
Response Number %
Yes 177 88%
No 6 3%
No response 19 9%
Total 202 100%
N=202
Responses to question 7c which requested the law firms to list journals they subscribed to included print resources such as Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, All Federation Weekly Law Reports, Nigerian Weekly Law Reports, Law Reports of the Courts of Nigeria, Supreme Court Judgments, All Criminal Weekly Law Reports, Supreme Court Quarterly Law Reports and so on. Law reports applicable to each of the states of the federation are also available to lawyers within the states. A few indicated they subscribed to other secondary sources such as United Nations treatises, Kyoto Protocol, journals on international human rights and so on. The total response to the question was 95%, with 5% not responding.