The Spiritual Side of the Law

Tales from Litigation by Lawyer Fredericka

There is a side of the law that is rarely taught in classrooms and never written in statutes. It is not given credence to in law reports, yet many litigators encounter it sooner or later. It is the spiritual weight that sometimes follows litigation.

I have seen clients die mysteriously while their cases were still pending. I have seen others win judgments they never lived to execute. I have watched judges suffer physical and mental breakdowns while presiding over some matters. Some victories come at a cost no decree can compensate for.

As a lawyer, there are moments that defy preparation. You rise to address the court and your throat closes. Your thoughts scatter. Words refuse to come, despite hours of practice. Sleep becomes troubled. Nightmares set in. Your life falls apart. You fall sick. You die mysteriously. Some cases come with a heaviness that no legal research can lift.

In practice, it is often said that chieftaincy matters are not handled lightly and never without spiritual protection. Family disputes, particularly property litigation, can be even more dangerous. There are fathers who have lost their lives under strange circumstances while asserting property rights, and their children are warned never to continue the fight.

Land litigation is not for the faint-hearted. Estate disputes can be brutal. Criminal cases carry their own weight. Divorce proceedings are no less intense. Litigants curse judges. Parties curse lawyers. Some clients, after losing a case, turn their anger into insults and maledictions, forgetting that advocacy does not guarantee victory.

There are litigants who come to court accompanied not only by counsel, but by pastors, fetish priests, or spiritual figures tasked with “working” the case beyond the courtroom. Whether one believes in these things or not, they are part of the lived reality of litigation.

Most serious litigators I know have some form of spiritual grounding. Lawyers rarely have physical bodyguards, but many have spiritual ones. This profession demands more than intellect and skill; it demands resilience of mind, body, and spirit.

Litigation is not just a profession. For many, it is a calling, and like most callings, it is sacrificial. Those who walk this path must accept that it sometimes comes with inexplicable challenges.

Some will say there is no spiritual side to the law ; that illness, loss, and misfortune are mere coincidences. Perhaps they are right. But when you experience an unexplainable turn of events while handling a matter before a court, you may come to understand why many practitioners speak of the law with reverence, caution, and quiet respect.

Honestly, beyond the pleadings and judgments, litigation often reaches places the law itself cannot explain.

Lawyer Fredericka