NBA-SBL Conference Urges Lawyers to Embrace AI, Strategic Networking
Legal practitioners have been urged to embrace artificial intelligence, strengthen their negotiation skills and adopt strategic networking practices, to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving legal and business environment.
The call was made on Monday, at the opening of the 20th Annual International Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) in Abuja. The Conference, themed “Beyond Reforms – Measuring Policy Impact”, brought together legal professionals, business leaders and policy experts, to examine emerging trends shaping legal practice and commercial transactions.
Leading the opening session on negotiation, Mr Ayuli Jemide challenged conventional assumptions about deal-making, arguing that human behaviour accounts for nearly 70% of negotiation outcomes, outweighing legal positions, facts and strategy. Drawing from real-life transactions, he highlighted factors such as anchoring, scarcity, reciprocity, venue and time pressure, while urging Lawyers to thoroughly research their counterparts, identify common interests and build trust through authenticity.
A separate session on business development and networking featured Abena Poku of XOI Marketing, Andrew Skipper, former Head of Africa at a leading international law firm, and Toyin Ojo of the African Legal Support Facility. The Speakers agreed that, while technical competence remains important, clients increasingly make decisions based on trust, relationships and a Lawyer’s understanding of their business needs.
