LAGOS State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Mr. Ade Ipaye has called on aspiring lawyers to at all times imbibe the ethics of the legal profession through character building, intelligence and personal comportment.

Ipaye made this known in Lagos at the First Appellate MOOT Court Competition of University of Lagos Law Students Association. He urged them to make hardworking dedication and commitment their watchword.

He said that the idea behind the competition is to give opportunity to students to develop their writing skills, improve on research as well as sharpen their advocacy skills.

He stated his Ministry decided to sponsor the competition in realisation of the need to encourage aspiring lawyers to identify and build up arguments through thorough research.

“The exercise was based on a judgment delivered at the High Court and the students were required to come up with Appellate, Respondent and Reply Briefs of arguments.”

Ipaye said he was very impressed with the level of commitment and extensive research the students displayed during the exercise.

He promised to ensure that his Ministry would to encourage more students to take part in the future competitions.

The competition was rated by a four-man panel comprising Hon. Justice Sidi Bage [JCA] of the Federal Court of Appeal, Hon Justice Lawal Akapo and Hon. Justice Atinuke Oluyemi both of the Lagos State High Court and Mrs Idowu Alakija a Director of Public Prosecution in the Ministry of Justice.

However, Hon. Justice Bage [JCA] charged the law students to always respect the law, abide by the ethics and code of conduct of the law profession.

“There is order, decorum and mode of dressing in court which must be strictly adhered to by lawyers.”

The four chambers within the faculty which participated in the competition are: Kayode Eso Students Chambers; Gani Fawehinmi Student Chambers; Justice Oputa Student Chambers and Teslim Elias Student Chambers.

All participating Chambers were presented with cash gifts and certificates of participation.

The overall winning chambers, Justice Oputa Student Chambers- Representing the Respondent got a cash gift of N100,000, books and certificate of participation while the runners-up, Teslim Elias Student Chambers got N60,000.00 books and a certificate of participation.