By PCI Nwosu, Esq., LP..
The law is a profession of precision. In language, as in argument, imprecision erodes authority. Nowhere is this more evident in Nigeria today than in the persistent, though improper, use of “Barrister” as a prefix to the names of legal practitioners.
To understand why, we must return first to the Latin from which our profession draws so much of its dignity, and then to the 600-year evolution of the only suffix our jurisdiction has adopted: Esquire.
We cannot discuss the origins of the uses of Esquire and origins of certain traditions of the Bar without reference to the Latin patrimony of the legal profession that evolved over those 600 years ago .
Roman jurisprudence gave us the vocabulary of law. It also gave us the first descriptions of those who practice it:
Lawyers were regarded variously under Roman law and indeed Latin language was the vehicle of law. Lawyers were called ‘ Iuris Consultus` meaning — yoo-ris kon-SOOL-toos. “One who is consulted about the law.” which referenced a legal advisor.
They were Aldi called Advocatus` — ad-wo-KAH-toos meaning “One called to aid.” From this we derive “advocate,” the voice for another in court which today rings true .
It is not unusual in the early formative years for lawyers to be Iuris Peritus — yoo-ris PEH-ri-toos meaning “Skilled in the law.” The legal expert or
a ‘Patronus Causae`pronounced — pa-TRO-nus KOW-sai meaning the “Patron of the case.” or the ‘Roman defender.’
An ancient practiced that has survived till date is for a lawyer to appear as Amicus Curiae` — meaning a “friend of the court.” or Pro Bono — “for the good.”
Note what is absent: none of these is a prefix. They are descriptions of function and learning.
That tradition persists. In Nigerian courts founded on the common law, no rule, statute, or practice permits a lawyer to be announced as “Barrister So-and-So.” The proper forms of address are those of respect and office: Mr., Mrs., Chief, Dr., followed, where appropriate, by Esq.
The use of “ESQUIRE”: evolved over 600 years as earlier pointed out . It originally meant ‘shield bearer’.
The word Esquire is not, and was never, exclusive to lawyers. Its journey explains its propriety.
It derives from Latin ‘scutarius’ and Old French ‘escuier’ meaning “shield-bearer.”
Between the 12th and 14th centuries, an Esquire was an attendant to a knight — a rank below knighthood but above gentleman. The title was extended to justices of the peace, sheriffs, landowners, and sons of nobility.
By the 16th to 18th centuries, English courts adopted Esq. as a polite suffix for “gentlemen” professionals: lawyers, physicians, and clergy. It denoted status, not licensure — the equivalent of “Mr.” in formal correspondence and address .
After American independence, with monarchical titles discarded, the American Bar standardized Esq. as the suffix for all licensed attorneys. It became the recognized mark of one admitted to practice law .
Nigeria, inheriting the common law, adopted the same convention. Today, Esq. is the suffix appended to the name of every person called to the Nigerian Bar.
In the United Kingdom, by contrast, Esquire has largely fallen into desuetude, with Barrister and Solicitor denoting separate branches of a divided profession. Nigeria has no such restrictive division.
It’s important to explore the reasons why the use of Barrister as a prefixed title is unacceptable in Nigeria and very much inappropriate.
The objection to “Barrister” as a prefix is not pedantry. It is doctrinal. It’s at the core of how a lawyer is addressed in the jurisdiction .
The Nigerian Statute forbids the bifurcation.
Section 2(1) of the Legal Practitioners Act, LFN 2004 provides: “a person shall be entitled to practise as a barrister and solicitor… if his name is on the roll.”
The call is conjunctive. One cannot elect to be only half a lawyer. To style oneself “Barrister” suggests the solicitor’s function — advisory, transactional, corporate — does not exist, or is inferior. That is a misrepresentation
Legal jurisprudence apparently rejects the use of Barrister as a prefix by lawyers in Nigeria.
In NBA v. Ofomata (2017) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1557) 128, the Court of Appeal held:
“The appellation of ‘Barrister’ as a title before the name of a legal practitioner is unprofessional and improper.”
The Court urged the use of conventional prefixes — Mr., Mrs., Chief, Dr. with “Barrister and Solicitor” or “Barrister-at-Law” placed after the name, if at all.
It’s noteworthy that professional regulation rejects the use of Barrister as a honorific title .
At its NEC meeting in Port Harcourt, November 2015, the NBA resolved: _“The use of the word ‘Barrister’ by any legal practitioner in Nigeria as a prefix to his name is against the ethics of the legal profession.”
“Barrister” describes a function — advocacy in court — one of perhaps 500 roles a lawyer performs. It is not a title conferred like “Oba,” “Eze,” or “Chief.” The certificate issued at the Nigerian Law School certifies one to practice as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
It confers no prefix.
It is misleading to address a lawyer as a Barrister .
Unlike “Dr.,” an earned academic title, “Barrister” denotes nothing more than enrollment. To use it as a prefix is unprofessional branding. It also erases the solicitor, whose drafting and advisory work constitutes the bulk of modern legal practice and is often the more technically demanding.
Some argue that because the RPC 2007 and the LPA do not expressly prohibit the prefix, it is permitted. The answer lies in the common law itself: where the Constitution is silent, courts and regulatory bodies fill the gap. The NBA and the Bench have spoken. Their pronouncements are binding on members of the Bar.
In Nigeria, a lawyer is properly addressed as for example :
Chief F.R.A. Williams, SAN
or
PCI Nwosu, Esq.
If further precision is desired, the suffix may reflect the fused nature of our practice. I propose:
PCI Nwosu, Esq., LP.
LP — Legal Practitioner. It is accurate, modest, and comprehensive. It acknowledges that we are both barristers and solicitors, and that the law, as experience, is not an exact science but a craft perfected by practice.
In conclusion there is an old maxim: “Aqua currit et debet currere, ut currere solebat.” “Water runs and ought to run as it has used to run.”
So too with the traditions of the Bar. For 600 years Esquire has run as the mark of the gentleman professional. For 60 years in Nigeria it has run as the mark of the Legal Practitioner.
Let us not dam the river with a prefix the law never gave us. We are not “Barrister.” We are Legal Practitioners. We are Esquires.
The author Paschal Charles Ifeanyi Nwosu Esq is a Legal Practitioner based in Orlu.
(C) PCI Nwosu Esq 2026.
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