Build careers on merit, not quick wealth: Law Minister

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman has urged newly enrolled lawyers to prioritise professional skills, ethics and hard work instead of pursuing quick wealth as they build their careers.

“Instead of trying to become rich quickly through corruption or shortcuts, you should build yourselves as ideal lawyers through merit, honesty, morality and hard work,” he said.

He made the call while addressing the ‘Felicitation Programme 2026’ at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) auditorium in the capital, organised to honour UAP law graduates who passed the Bangladesh Bar Council enrolment examination.

The minister said young lawyers should develop their careers through merit, honesty, morality and perseverance rather than corruption or shortcuts.

Asaduzzaman said making the Bangladesh Bar Council enrolment examination transparent and stringent was intended to ensure that entry into the legal profession was based on merit and competence.

He said those who had passed the examination and received certificates had reached the profession through their own merit and qualifications rather than favour or patronage.

“There is no scope for nepotism” in the enrolment examination, he said, noting that even children of members of the enrolment committee had failed the examination.

The minister urged the newly enrolled lawyers to remain confident in their qualifications and accept that establishing themselves professionally would require considerable effort, particularly at the beginning of their careers.

“Even if you get less work and lower fees at the beginning of your career, you have to remain patient and continue working. Your workload and remuneration will increase with experience,” he said.

Asaduzzaman stressed that lawyers should maintain professional relationships with clients while preserving the dignity of the legal profession.

“A client is a client,” he said.
He also said a lawyer’s responsibility extended beyond taking cases in exchange for fees. Providing access to justice for poor and vulnerable people was also a social and professional responsibility, he said.

The minister urged lawyers to take on some cases involving disadvantaged people without charging fees alongside their paid work.

Recalling an incident from his own career, he said lawyers should not assess every matter solely through financial considerations and should also stand beside people in pursuit of justice.

The minister stressed regular study and legal practice, saying lawyers had opportunities to learn throughout their professional lives.

“The more you study, the more knowledge and skills you will acquire,” he said, highlighting regular study as essential for developing professional abilities, including good drafting.

Although Bangladesh has a large number of lawyers, Asaduzzaman said adequate professional training facilities were not available.

He said the government was moving towards introducing training programmes to strengthen lawyers’ professional skills and would take necessary initiatives to make the profession more dignified and skill-based.

He called for building a legal community whose standing in society would be strengthened by lawyers’ education, merit, skills, honesty and ethics.

The minister also urged young lawyers to prepare themselves to become capable of providing leadership to society and the state.

UAP Board of Trustees Chairperson KM Mozibul Hoque, UAP Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mohiuddin Ahmed Bhuiyan and Acting Dean of the School of Law Prof Dr MA Baqui Khalily attended the programme as special guests.

The event was chaired by Head of the UAP Law and Human Rights Department Dr Noor-E-Medina Suraiya Jesmin.

Later, UAP law graduates who passed the Bangladesh Bar Council enrolment examination were felicitated. Teachers, students, the graduates and invited guests attended the programme.