There is a season in every young advocate’s life when the phone does not ring as often as one would like, the diary has too many empty spaces, and every new brief feels like an answer to prayer.
Then, sometimes, the brief arrives.
But it is not a constitutional petition you were hoping for. It is not a multimillion-shilling commercial dispute. It does not involve a well-known client.
It may be a simple demand letter, a tenancy agreement, a company filing, a succession matter, a debt claim, a children’s matter, a land dispute, an employment claim, or an application you have been asked to handle on behalf of a senior.
The fee may be modest. The client may not be influential. The matter may never make the law reports. Take it seriously.
Do not despise the small brief. Because to the client, it may not be small at all.
The Kshs.20,000 [UGX 588,758] dispute may represent the client’s entire savings. The succession matter involving a small parcel of land may determine whether a widow has somewhere to live.
The employment claim may concern the only income upon which a family depends. A seemingly ordinary children’s matter may determine where a child grows up. A brief is only “small” when measured by the lawyer’s fee or the size of the dispute.
It is rarely small to the person who has entrusted it to you. And there is another reason why I advise young advocates to take small briefs seriously:
- The small brief is often where the big advocate begins.
One of the greatest difficulties facing a young advocate is the experience paradox.
Clients want an experienced lawyer. But experience cannot be acquired without being given the opportunity to practise.
The client with a major commercial dispute may ask: “How many years have you been in practice? “What substantial matters have you handled?” “Have you argued before the Court of Appeal?” “Who are your major clients?”
And you may quietly wonder: How am I supposed to acquire that experience if nobody gives me the opportunity?
The answer is not to sit and wait for the big brief. Start with what comes through the door.
Experience cannot be gained in a vacuum. The small brief is your bridge between classroom theory and the practical reality of advocacy.
It is where the law you learnt begins to acquire flesh and blood.
Law school teaches you the law.
Practice teaches you judgment.
You learn how to interview a client. You learn how to identify the real issue. You learn how to distinguish what the client wants from what the law permits. You learn procedure. You learn limitation periods. You learn drafting. You learn negotiation. You learn how to manage difficult clients. You learn how to tell a client that they do not have a good case.
You learn how to tell a client that they are unlikely to get everything they want. You learn when litigation is necessary and when settlement may be wiser. You learn how to manage deadlines, files, money and expectations.
These are not small lessons. They are the foundations of a legal career.
2. Build a track record one brief at a time.
Do not think that your professional track record begins when you get your first landmark case. It begins much earlier. Your first properly drafted agreement is part of your track record.
Your first successful company filing is part of your track record. Your first well-argued interlocutory application is part of your track record. Your first successful negotiation is part of your track record. Your first client who refers another client is part of your track record.
Every matter you handle properly adds to your competence. And competence produces something that no amount of pretending can produce: confidence.
3. Do not be afraid of the small courtroom appearance.
If a senior advocate asks you to hold brief for a mention, take it seriously.
If you are sent to argue a simple application for substituted service, prepare. If you are asked to obtain directions, know the file. If you are sent before a Registrar, understand what you are required to do.
Do not tell yourself:
“This is beneath me.”
There is nothing beneath you when you are learning your profession.
The small court appearance teaches you how to navigate the justice system.
You learn how the registry works. You learn how to interact with court staff. You learn how matters are called out. You learn how to address the Court. You learn how to listen to a Judge or Magistrate. You learn how to respond when the Court asks you a question you did not anticipate.
And, perhaps most importantly, you learn to overcome courtroom anxiety.
Your first appearance may make your heart race. Your tenth will be different. Your fiftieth will be different again.
Eventually, you will walk into court with the quiet confidence of someone who knows what they are doing.
That confidence was not given to you.
You earned it through exposure.
And yes, as you consistently appear prepared, respectful and competent, judicial officers will begin to recognise you – not because you sought familiarity or favour, but because you have demonstrated professional competence over time. That is valuable professional capital.
4. There is no shame in wanting to survive.
We should also be honest about something that is sometimes left unsaid.
The early years of practice can be financially difficult.
A young advocate has professional obligations, practising expenses, transport costs, research expenses, filing costs, office expenses and ordinary personal responsibilities.
Sometimes the remuneration available at the beginning is simply not enough.
So, when a legitimate independent brief comes your way, do not be embarrassed because it is small.
A modest drafting fee may pay your transport. A small conveyancing transaction may help meet an office expense. A simple court appearance may help you meet a professional obligation. Several small briefs can provide the financial breathing room you need while you build a sustainable practice.
There is dignity in honest work. But let me be clear: financial pressure must never become an excuse for professional misconduct. Do not take a brief where you have a conflict. Do not breach your employment obligations. Do not misuse client information. Do not compromise confidentiality. Do not sacrifice your ethics for a fee.
Build your practice honestly. Professional independence often begins with small earnings.
5. Your first clients may become your greatest referral network.
There is something else young advocates should understand.
Your client has a network. The person who walks into your office today with a modest legal problem may know fifty people you have never met.
The person whose tenancy agreement you draft may later start a business. The employee whose small employment dispute you handle may eventually become a senior executive. The family whose succession matter you handle may recommend you to their relatives. The small business owner whose contract you prepare may eventually have substantial commercial interests.
You do not know where people are going. And you do not know where your relationship with them is going.
But there is an important ethical distinction here.
Do not serve a small client well merely because you hope they will become a big client. Serve them well because they are entitled to competent and dignified legal service today.
If they later become successful and continue to instruct you, that is a consequence of having built a relationship of trust. Your professionalism should not depend upon the size of the client’s wallet.
6. Professional reputation is built starting with the small matters.
A client may forget the precise section of the law you cited. But they will remember whether you listened. They will remember whether you returned their call. They will remember whether you explained things in language they understood.
They will remember whether you told them the truth when the truth was uncomfortable. They will remember whether you prepared. They will remember whether you kept your word.
And they will tell other people. That is how reputation travels. One client. One referral. One matter at a time.
The small brief can therefore become a professional gateway. The client you help today may be the person who recommends you tomorrow. And the person they recommend may bring you the substantial brief you have been waiting for.
7. Small briefs and major briefs serve different purposes.
There is a reason I advise young advocates to understand the difference.
A major brief may bring prestige, substantial remuneration and an opportunity to specialise.
But it may also carry enormous consequences and little room for a young advocate to learn through trial and error.
The small brief is often more accessible. It can be completed relatively quickly. It allows you to practise skills repeatedly. It can provide immediate income.
And, importantly, it gives you the opportunity to build confidence before you are entrusted with matters where the consequences of an error may be enormous.
Think of it this way: The point is not that young advocates should remain content with small briefs. The point is that they should use them as stepping stones.
8. There will be bigger briefs.
Be patient. The big matter will come. And when it does, you will be better prepared because you spent your early years taking the small matters seriously.
The advocate who has listened carefully to ordinary clients will understand people better. The advocate who has drafted hundreds of ordinary documents will draft better. The advocate who has appeared in small matters will be less intimidated when the stakes become higher. The advocate who has negotiated small disputes may discover that the best advocacy in a major dispute is sometimes knowing when not to fight.
So, when the brief comes, do not look only at the fee. Look at the responsibility. Look at the opportunity. Look at the client who has trusted you. Look at what the matter can teach you. Then do the work exceptionally well.
9. Every great advocate was once a beginner.
Every established advocate once had a first client. Every courtroom advocate once had a first appearance. Every successful practice once had an empty diary. Every respected name in the profession was once unknown.
Someone eventually gave that young advocate an opportunity.
And the young advocate had to take that opportunity and make something of it.
So, young colleagues, when the small brief comes, pick it up.
Do not ask whether it is beneath you.
Ask whether you can do it well. Do not ask only how much it pays.
Ask what it can teach you. Do not dismiss the client because they are not influential.
Remember that every client is entitled to dignity, attention and competent representation.
Do not wait for your career to begin with a spectacular case. Build it quietly.
One client. One brief. One appearance. One document. One negotiation. One referral. One lesson. One reputation at a time.
And perhaps, years from now, when a young advocate comes to you looking for their first opportunity, you will remember what it felt like when somebody gave you yours.
Then you will understand the final lesson:
The purpose of building a successful legal career is not merely to get to the top.
It is to become someone who can lift another advocate when you get there.
Never despise the small brief. Your big practice may already be hiding inside the small brief you are tempted to dismiss today.
Ekaterina Handa
Ekaterina Handa is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public and Partner at Gitonga, Kinyangui & Co Advocates.
