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Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office

The practical skills that keep a chambers running: court documents and filing, legal research, drafting under supervision, case files and diaries, CAC and property paperwork, client care and the lines a non-lawyer must never cross.

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About this course

Every busy law firm, corporate legal department, court registry and NGO legal aid desk in Nigeria depends on people who are not lawyers: legal assistants, law clerks, litigation secretaries, paralegals and chambers administrators who prepare the documents, keep the diaries, run the filings, find the authorities and hold the files together. Almost nobody is trained for it, and the good ones are worth a great deal. This course teaches the job from the ground up. You will learn how the Nigerian legal system and court hierarchy work, what the roles in a chambers are and who may do what under the Legal Practitioners Act, how to read and use statutes, law reports and the free sources, how court processes are prepared, filed and served and how a court diary is kept so nothing is missed, how to draft routine documents under a lawyer's supervision, how to support company secretarial work at the Corporate Affairs Commission and property transactions, how to manage client intake, confidentiality and files, how time is recorded and billed, and how to build a career from here, including the route into law school for those who want it. It is education, not legal advice: the course is firm that a non-lawyer never advises clients, appears in court or holds themselves out as a lawyer, and it shows exactly where the line sits.

Kemi Balogun's first morning at Adeyemi & Co, a three-lawyer chambers on the second floor of a plaza in Ikeja, does not look like the law she has seen on television. Barrister Tunde Adeyemi is in court at Igbosere until early afternoon. Mr Chukwudi, the litigation clerk, is on his way to the registry with a bundle of motions and a wad of cash for fees. The phone rings with a client asking whether her matter "has been adjourned again". The generator is down, and on Kemi's desk is a hand-written note: "Please open a file for Mrs Okoye, diary the return date on the Adebisi matter, and find me the current Lagos tenancy law. Thanks, T.A." This lesson explains what all of that means.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 12 lessons

  1. What a legal assistant actually does15 min
  2. The Nigerian legal system and the lines you must not cross17 min
  3. Reading the law: statutes, cases and law reports16 min
  4. Legal research that a lawyer can rely on15 min
  5. Court processes: preparing, filing and serving16 min
  6. The court diary, adjournments and case management16 min
  7. Drafting under supervision: letters, affidavits and simple documents16 min
  8. Company work: CAC filings and company secretarial support16 min
  9. Property work: the documents behind a land transaction16 min
  10. Clients, confidentiality and the file15 min
  11. Time, billing and running the office15 min
  12. Ethics, careers and the next step16 min

Your project

Your Matter File

One document (Google Doc with view access, or an uploaded Word or PDF file) with a headed section for each of the six parts, every draft marked for counsel's review, and no real personal data.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify. See the full project brief, rubric and free workbook →

Frequently asked questions

Is Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office free?

Yes. Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office take to complete?

6 weeks · ~4 hrs/week. There are 12 lessons, about 3 hours of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office?

Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.

What will I learn in Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office?

You will build practical skills in The Nigerian legal system and court hierarchy, Roles in a chambers and the limits on non-lawyers, Reading statutes, cases and law reports, Legal research with free and paid sources, Preparing, filing and serving court processes, Court diaries and case management, Drafting affidavits, letters and agreements under supervision, CAC filings and company secretarial support, Property documentation support, Client intake, confidentiality and file management, Time recording, billing and office systems, Professional ethics and career paths. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Legal Assistant & Law Clerk: Working in a Nigerian Law Office?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Your Matter File and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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