Being a lawyer has always seemed like an elite profession from way back. Many young people mention wanting to be lawyers from a tender age but they give up on the dream along the way because many perceive it as hard and it requires immense dedication and time. We met up with Bernard Mukasa, a city lawyer, to get a picture of what it actually means to be a lawyer.

Bernard is currently a partner at Ortus advocates, a teaching assistant at the law school of King Ceasor University teaching Intellectual property and labour law among many amazing things. He did his Bachelor of law at Makerere University and did his Post Graduate Diploma in legal Practice at the Law Development Centre in 2011.

10 years down the road, Bernard’s typical day starts at 5am and like many young pulsers, he first gets onto his phone to look at what’s happening around the world. On top of having meetings throughout the day or having court, he is a Rotarian as well. So typically he is going to have to juggle being a lawyer, a lecturer, a Rotarian, a public speaker and also have a social life on top of this and that just seems like a lot.

“We leave school and we are all at some basic level of competence for sure, different circumstances can show that; some work well under pressure, some under no supervision etc but everyone given the right conditions can ultimately produce a bare minimum of the law,” Bernard said.

To the young lawyers, he says in order to stand out from the crowd, excellence and team work are skills that they should have. Excellence in everything that you do, research, presentation, dress code name it. And for team work this should be self explanatory because no man is an island.

“Have an open mind. You leave university  thinking you have it all figured out but wow, the world quickly shows you otherwise. So yes, have an open mind,” Bernard advises.

“Learning never stops, every day is a new day to be better at something, live a balanced life; you will always make time for things that are important to you, even when its not obvious.” he added.

With all the reading that law students and lawyers have to constantly do, you may think that it is impossible to have a social life but according to Bernard, every opportunity is a potential networking opportunity, be it a supermarket line or an actual event.

For the future lawyers or young lawyers, you too can be like Bernard or even better than him. Buy yourself a Pulse data bundle by dialing *157#, and follow him on his social media for a glimpse into the life of one of the “Real lawyers of Kampala.”

Twitter: @mkbernz

courtesy photos