Opening of The Atrium - A new chapter in Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah
The inauguration of a five-storey office complex for Benchi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah (BELA), a law firm, is not only significant, but marks a germane portion of an unfolding story that has already impacted on legal practice in the country in no small measure.
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From the days when “one-man show’ legal practice dogged legal practice, Mr Kojo Bentsi-Enchill returned from abroad in 1988 to change the landscape of the profession in the country when instead of joining his father’s law practice, decided to found his own venture founded on sound business principles.
Joined by his classmate, Mr Divine Letsa, the two put their heads together to craft a firm that now has lawyers with speciality in various areas of legal practice, which today makes it the largest law firm in the country and also, in the words if the Chief Justice “possibly the biggest employer of lawyers in the history of this country, outside the Attorney-General’s Department.”
The foundation
BELA was thus founded on sound corporate governance structures, well defined rules and regulations with carefully spelt out succession planning, where lawyers could have a career progression and ultimately become partners. Until then, the practice had been more read about in textbooks than experienced in the country in its practice.
The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, the special guest, inaugurated the BELA office complex which has been christened “The Atrium”. The firm currently has 45 lawyers, with more than 100 other lawyers having passed through the firm.
The Chief Justice said the legal profession was at the cross-roads of evolution and development the world over and therefore charged African lawyers to “recognise the changing times and take genuine steps to shed off the traditional approach to offering services and re-orient and manage affairs in a manner that would reflect the changing times.”
The inauguration also coincided with the 25 years of the firm’s existence, which would be marked throughout the week, on the theme: “The 21st Century African Law Firm.” Mrs Wood said for Africa to take its place within the comity of nations, it was important the “legal profession cannot help but synchronise their efforts with the rest of the world.”
She believes developing the legal profession to internationally accepted standards would not only enhance the responsibility of the profession in African countries, but also “reinforce the competitive advantage of Ghanaian lawyers in terms of their employability and engagement.”
Mrs Wood discounted the old-fashioned ‘one-man legal practice as not having the effectiveness to meet demands of today, stressing that lawyers who operated within a corporate structure were more likely to attract high caliber work.
Such formalised structures in the practice also pave the way for lawyers to specialise in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, PPP law, intellectual property, oil and gas law, labour law are areas lawyers can take advantage of.
The Managing Partner of the firm, Mr Ace Anan Ankomah, who chronicled the firm’s journey, paid glowing tribute to the firm’s founder members, Mr Bentsi-Enchill and Mr Letsa for their mentorship and wealth of wisdom with which they had shepherded the firm and its team of lawyers and partners.
For his part, Mr Benchi-Enchill expressed belief in the future of the firm, especially with the team of dedicated lawyers it now boasts.
The Atrium has a gymnasium, a nursery for children of the staff, multipurpose halls that could host art exhibitions, conference halls and meeting rooms. The front office and lobbies are decked with classic paintings of some of the country’s sung and unsung artists.
For the week of activities to mark the silver jubilee, BELA will host guests to a public lecture at the British Council Hall tomorrow to be delivered by Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr on the topic: “ Agreeing our way into trouble?.
Before then will be an arts exhibition on the ground floor of The Atrium which would run until Friday, September 11.
The facility will be dedicated on Thursday, September 10 by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. Each evenings of the anniversary week will be dedicated to different kinds of musical entertainment.