And then I started wondering about practising and clients ... what should inform which case you take on ... a good case, a challenging one, one destined to be your claim to fame ... what?
All of these musings got me thinking about current cases in the media.
Kennedy Agyapong's rants
An MP sits on radio and in his own words, declares war. Calling on one group of people to attack another and goes further to "suggest" specific weapons to be used and on which parts of the body.
What do you say to this as a lawyer? Well, Atta Kyea thought it best to go "Shakespearean" with this. He said his client was being "metaphorical". I mean, I've got to give him props for his use of imagery and I must say, its helpful to know that my literature classes could come in handy, atleast all those hours of endless reading were not for nothing - if talking law becomes impossible, talk literature.
At what point can a lawyer say to a client, "I'm going to do everything in my power to see to it that no other Ghanaian ever grows arrogant enough to make such peace threatening statements and expect not to be sanctioned for it."
Nana Konadu and her umbrella
I've been asking myself what was going on in Stanley Ahorlu's mind as he listened to Mrs. Rawlings the day she took her umbrella case to him. We're going to do legal battle with the ruling party in government for the use of the party's logo on the grounds of "infringement". Eeerrmm ... your party is infringing by using a logo you designed for it as the wife of the "founder" of the party? (assuming ofcourse that your claim is true) a logo they've been using since the party was "founded'?
I like to think that at some point he almost said "Madam, i did not go through years of gruelling legal training to subject the profession to this" but what we do know for a fact he discussed with her was "intellectual property".
Well, that, atleast is legal, compared to "metaphorical" ... Nobody's job is easy!
So metaphorically speaking... saying that an Asante should use whatever he/she finds to hit the head of a Ga or an Ewe is a representation for an Asante being asked to dance whatever dance about the head of a Ga or an Ewe OR WHAT?
ReplyDeleteThe last time I checked some group of guys threatened the CJ of Ghana with 'exit through the narrow door or window' and we did not here people say it was a metaphor when that actually qualifies for a metaphor. Meanwhile the CJ reported this group to the police claiming 'threat to life' and yet the same CJ who happens to be a Ga hears that Gas have been said to be attacked by Asantes with whatever they can hit against their heads and our dear CJ does not feel threatened this time to go to the police.
Again someone said 'many ways of killing a cat', an idiom, a well known idiom, and yet hell broke loose that this man meant 'threat of death'. Then all knowledge of metaphor vanished into thin air. But thanks to Ken we can remember metaphors!
As for Konadu and whoever registered that logo for her, they both have questions to answer. It smacks of robbery in the name of the law.
Ahem! I did not address the fundamental point for which you mentioned these examples! I'd leave that to you to decide. We always have choices to make no matter the professions we are in. And our choices are either based on sound and sustainable reasons or otherwise driven by other interests.
Novisi, your comment is almost the length of the post lol. I think that a lawyer's strategy depends pretty much on the case or the jury (where they exist). As for Kennedy's case, Atta Akyea had little choice than to take that strategy.
ReplyDeleteAs for Nana Konadu's case.....wait. She has no case lol
Interesting posts... and I love Novisi's response and explanations. the Chief Justice and most of the judges are partisan in their approach. I hope I'm speaking metaphorically.
ReplyDeletewell, a good lawyer knows when and how to play with the law.
ReplyDelete