On Wednesday, the 21st day of August 2019, the Managing Partner of the firm, Uche Val Obi, SAN delivered a keynote lecture on the topic: “The Need to Dispense With lengthy Judgments/Rulings In Our Quest For Quicker Justice Delivery System: Arguments For and Against” at the public presentation of the second edition of Mr. Olumide Babalola’s Law Dictionary of Judicially Defined Words and Phrases which held at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. The event attracted the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Muktar Abimbola, who was represented by Justice Iyabo Yerima; as well as Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Mr Seyi Sowemimo, Mr Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika and Prof Kayinsola Ajayi, who was represented by his junior, Mr Olaniyi Osotuyi.

Also present were the Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Lagos branch, Mr Yemi Akangbe; and the Director, Lagos State Office of the Public Defender, Mrs Yinka Adeyemi, who represented the Lagos State Solicitor-General.

During his lecture, he noted that unduly lengthy and wordy judgments are elitist and many a times incomprehensible.

He advocated that officers should shed the customary thinking that core issues for determination in every dispute cannot be sufficiently addressed unless a ‘treatise’ has been written. He noted that observing brevity in judgment writing, in a constructive and pragmatic manner, will usually be adequate in distilling the relevant issues for determination. He also noted that brevity of judgments has the potential of improving the quality of judgments, and could also reduce the workload of the judges.