AsktheLawyerOnline Founder, Aronke Omame, Talks Digital Law Libraries

Barrister Aronke Omame

The legal profession in Nigeria is viewed as one of the most prestigious career paths; however it is very traditional in practice.  The internet is a modern platform and departs from the norm. What was the rationale behind setting up Askthelawyeronline.com?

If you received our independence day message I acknowledged there that the world is gradually becoming a village due to advancements in information technology and social media. Every profession has been practised in its peculiar traditional way in Nigeria and now that there is a globalization of everything the practise of law must move along with such advancements.

Askthelawyeronline.com was set up to address such realities and also to assist colleagues broadcast their areas of specialization to the general public.

We have judgments of superior courts of record. We have those of the Supreme Court and work will soon commence on those of the Court of Appeal. We will continue to have a lot of case commentaries and legislative reviews for purposes of our colleagues who practise outside the courts.

It is a known fact that legal libraries can cost legal practitioners a small fortune. Oftentimes running into millions of Naira.
Can you give us an idea of the average cost-savings your online legal resource offers to lawyers?

Realistically the online library will reduce physical library costs by about 60%.  Remember that costs of these resources increase by the day so a lawyer who sets up in about 5years will have to pay heavier costs than a lawyer who set up 10 years ago.

Do you think the internet revolution and the information age will make physical law libraries obsolete over time, similar to how Amazon’s Kindle is phasing out physical books?

Lawyers like to decorate their offices with books. Even in advanced countries they have impressive looking library shelves. That is a status thing for the large part and it will almost certainly remain. The advantage of online libraries is that practitioners can now take their libraries anywhere in the world that they wish. It also means that a lawyer in the USA can have access to what we are doing and globalisation of legal services is better enhanced.

Do you have competitors in the market?

Yes and no. We have other companies that provide court judgments online to lawyers. On our part we promise that the judgments will be provided within five working days of their delivery.   However we say no because we don’t know of any Nigerian competitor who provides online law journal articles and case commentaries. We provide free listing to lawyers and discussions arena for members of the public as well as lawyers. That in itself provides legal information to members of the public as well as access to specialist lawyers’ information.

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One Comment

1. 

   Rosies

   October 19, 2012 at 9:37 pm

   This is needed and is about time. We need to ask the lawyer. They say it is free. Time will tell. Ask the lawyer for free and be informed when you ask your lawyer