Emeka Nwadioke Celebrates Golden Age
Emeka Nwadioke is the Lead Partner at Emeka Nwadioke & Co., a full-service law firm which he established in 2009. He has a rich and varied background spanning journalism, banking, business administration and law which he brings to bear on the firm’s practice. A former banker, Nwadioke was in 1999 appointed by Nigeria’s President as a member of the National Y2K Committee (The Presidency) saddled with the duty of combating the Millennium Bug.
He is the Initiator/Editor of the hugely popular “NBA LAGOS Newsletter” and “NBA LAGOS Occasional Newsletter” for which he has received high praise from Bar Leaders and members.
As he marks his 50th birthday today, Newswire Law and Events Magazine congratulates him on the attainment of the golden age.
Tell us about yourself. >>> My name is Emeka Nwadioke. I received an Upper Honours degree in Mass Communications from then Anambra State University of Technology, Enugu and an MBA from the University of Lagos. I also received a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees from the University of Lagos.
I practised journalism for about 10 years, working for some of Nigeria’s leading newspapers including Business Times, The Guardian and THISDAY. While writing for Business Times, I received the Finance Correspondents Award as the “Finance Features Writer of the Year.” I left journalism for the banking industry where I worked as a reputation management specialist for five years. I resigned from the bank to attend the Law School. Upon enrolment, I worked at Rickey Tarfa & Co. as Counsel. In 2009 I established Emeka Nwadioke & Co., a full service law firm, where I work as the Lead Partner.
Presently, I combine my role as Lead Partner with editing City Lawyer Magazine, a publication targeted primarily at lawyers. I am also the Editor of Nigeria’s Top 100 Lawyers, an annual listing aimed at fostering legal excellence. An Unofficial Member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, I am also the Publicity Secretary of Otu Oka-Iwu, the law society of lawyers of Igbo extraction. I am a member of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA). I am also engaged in Bar activism and I am keen on law reform.
Have you had any challenges in your career as a lawyer and if so what were the main challenges? >>> Yes. It was challenging setting up my law office. Funding was a major challenge in this regard. However, my lucky break came when my former employer (a bank) gave us a retainership which enabled us to receive some briefs, initially in insolvency practice and subsequently in other practice areas.
What was your worst day as a lawyer? >>> I was robbed the day I was called to the Bar. It turned one of my happiest days into a nightmare of sorts. As was customary, after the call, we went to the Supreme Court to enter our names on the Roll. Because ours was the very last call to Bar session, it somewhat rolled into the evening, such that before we could complete the enrollment exercise, dusk had descended on us. Since we had nowhere else to go, we headed back to the Nigerian Law School, Bwari where we had lodged.
We waded through thickets of bush paths with unease until the gunshots rang out, breaking the eerie silence. The road had been blocked by some gun-toting men who ordered us to lie face down on the road, our wigs and gowns flying all over the place. They soon separated the men from the group and asked us to sit in a row facing the bush. Thoughts of firing squads of old fleeted through my mind. They took every valuable item found on us and when we heard “Go! Go!!” we took to our heels. They were gracious enough to fling my wig into the car as we zoomed off. It was a very distressing experience.
What was your most memorable experience? >>> Sometime ago, the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division decided that its dockets were filled with non-viable appeals. It then set down a particular day in the week to unbundle its docket. One of the matters being handled by my former law firm was listed for what was more or less a ‘summary trial.’ I had gone to the court cocooned under the wings of my experienced senior. Prior to the sitting, my senior excused herself, assuring that she would be back to take the matter. However, when the panel commenced sitting, my senior was nowhere to be found! I was highly discomfited. I guess that our matter was listed as number eight on the cause list. As the hearing progressed, I kept looking towards the door, hoping that my senior would come in to save me from imminent embarrassment. What is more, the seven or so cases before ours were all either struck out or dismissed. Not one was spared.
The registrar promptly called our case. I rose, announced my appearance and assured the justices that my senior had excused herself, and would be back to personally handle the matter. The panel was in no mood for stories. A barrage of questions flowed ceaselessly ranging from the state of the Record of Appeal, whether all parties had been served, to whether the proof of service was in the file etc etc. I battled like a drowning man to provide answers as even more questions rained down in torrents. Occasionally, kind-hearted colleagues tugged at my robes, essentially asking me to soft-pedal. I was simply determined to ensure that the matter did not die on my own hands. However, in apparent frustration, I flatly told the panel, “My Lords, I am in sufficient difficulty.” I was seeking empathy; it was my last joker! It worked. Our matter was the first to be saved from the panel’s blazing guillotine! I was over the moon. Till date, I still do not know whether I was ‘set up’ by my senior. I could not pluck enough courage to ask!
Who has been most influential in your life? >>> This is a difficult question. God has used so many people to touch my life in sundry ways. It is a long list, and it would perhaps be unkind to leave out any of them. I have enjoyed the goodwill of many seniors, colleagues and former colleagues among others. God’s grace has been sufficient.
Why did you become a lawyer? >>> I became a lawyer because I strongly believe that this is my calling; I was born to do this! I actually had challenges trying to figure out my true calling. I even battled being a lawyer, wondering why I should study a course that everyone was clamouring for. I wanted something different. However, the day I decided to study law, I almost shouted ‘Eureka!’ It was as if the scales fell from my eyes. Every jigsaw fell into place. It fitted into everything I had longed for – and there was no looking back! Even the lucre of the banking industry could not hold me back; I just wanted to become a lawyer as quickly as I could, not a day longer!
What would your advice be to anyone wanting a career in law? >>> Lawyering is tasking; it is not for the fainthearted. Anyone aspiring to a career in law should be ready to study hard. My three pieces of advice would be: one, study; two, study and three, study. As the saying goes, readers are leaders. Nowhere is this truer than in the legal profession. Clients want solutions, not stories. Legal excellence cannot be purchased on the altar of slothfulness. The primacy of research and continuing legal education cannot be sufficiently stressed. I have also benefitted immensely from the counsel of seniors in untying knotty issues.
If you had not become a lawyer, what would you have chosen? >>> I do not really want to consider what could have been. I am entirely at peace with myself as a lawyer. However, I enjoyed my days in journalism. I enjoy writing and disseminating functional information to end-users in a timely manner.
Where do you see yourself in ten years? >>> I would love to see myself excelling maximally in my chosen practice areas, deepening my expertise, enriching my repertoire of knowledge and giving back in more ways than one to the profession and the community.
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