Seraiah Mulenga is a Zambian Lawyer who obtained her Bachelors degree in law from the Zambian Open University (LLB) in 2014. She proceeded to enroll with the Zambia Institute for Advanced Legal Education in 2016 where she qualified on her third sitting of the Zambian bar exams and was cordially called to the bar as an advocate of the High court of Zambia on the 16th of April 2019 and she has been at the Zambian bar for eight months.
1.) How long have you been practicing law?
I have been practicing for 8 months now.
2) What made you choose to be a lawyer?
My aim for studying law was a desire that have always had since childhood but as I grew up I developed a desire to see justice prevail especially to those that are vulnerable e.g, girl child and also all those that are treated unfairly because they are underprivileged.
3) What realities did you meet in practice that you did not contemplate in law school?
The realities I have met in practice are that in university, the co- focus is on the theory part of the law and its easy for anyone to read and apply, however, in practice, you don’t just read but you are also required to apply what you have read into reality which is time consuming and energy sapping.
4) What changes do you desire the most in the legal profession?
What I would love to see change in the legal profession is that we need to have a more speedy process in the systems that cases are handled so as to reduce on the delay in many cases and also we need to have more law firms set up in different parts of the country and also higher courts to be setup in different parts of the country to avoid unemployment because we have a lot of qualified lawyers that cannot find decent jobs to meet their qualifications due to the fact we don’t have a lot of law firms and higher courts in many parts of the country.
5) Malawi temporarily suspended the wig and gown because of rise in temperature, however, there has been a conversation in some quarters to abolish it permanently, what is your take on it?
I would definitely love the wig and gown to be permanently abolished because we haven’t been given a proper reason for robing ourselves apart from the fact we relate the culture of robing to colonialism which no longer exists.
6) Do you think you will still be practicing law in the next 10 years?
I will definitely do because law is my passion that has always been in me and I would love to advance myself in the same field of law.
7) What do you think the law society or Bar Association can do to improve the well being of younger lawyers?
The younger lawyers are the future lawyers of the country, however, the Association should venture more into mentoring these younger lawyers to enable them become strong future lawyers and also make available different trainings that will enhance their careers.
8) What area of law do you think id the future for young lawyers?
I think corporate law is the future for most young lawyers, looking at the rate the corporate world is growing by the day.
9) If you were to leave law, what else will you be doing?
If I were to leave law, I would definitely make myself useful in the same field and would do things like consultancy in mentoring other lawyers and also lecturing in the same field.
10) If you have $100,000 to donate to a cause, which cause will you donate to?
I would definitely fund any girl child who has been a victim of rape by making sure I provide proper counselling so that they can feel human again and make sure they have access to education to make them overcome the circumstances.
A word of advice to law students:
Do not study law for the money but do not for the passion. Be patient in the profession because its an easy profession when you are just starting, you need to learn a lot through your countless mistakes, you have to be open minded to go an extra mile in your reading like they say ” a good lawyer is one who knows where to find the law” hence you need to read a lot and understand the law.
