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CHEERS! A LAWFUL CHAT #1
with Ms. Dorothy Ufot
Interview by Rachele Grassini and Iacopo Brini
In collaboration with Radio Bocconi
How much of a part, if any, has being a woman played in a traditionally male context, and especially in the African context?
In an African context, but anywhere really, I believe that [it] does not deter you from breaking the glass ceiling, but as a woman you must then be courageous, strong and determined, and especially hard-working, because if you work hard you cannot be ignored. This is true for men and women both, but of course a woman must work harder, because she must compel the industry to notice her and what she puts on the table.
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If you’re prepared to put yourself into it and establish your name, if you know you’re going somewhere and you persevere with patience towards a clear goal, you will be recognized for what you offer. At the time I became Senior Advocate of Nigeria I was the eighth or tenth woman out of something like five-hundred men, and I am still the only woman from my state, but if you are committed and prepared to work even ten times harder than the men, you can do it.
I’m looking forward to other young women reaching that height, and to mentor them in the process.
Seeing as you have experience in both practices, could you describe in general the field of arbitration and the roles of an arbitrator, and an arbitration lawyer?
Arbitration is an alternative way of resolving disputes in which the settlement is decided by a private tribunal which must be previously agreed upon and set up by the parties through their contract.
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An arbitration lawyer essentially works as a normal lawyer, and he must represent his own party in front of the arbitral tribunal and argue their case.
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Nowadays I mainly work as an arbitrator; an arbitrator is a sort of judge nominated by the parties within their agreement, and there is full party autonomy in choosing their appointed arbitrator. You must have however certain qualities to be nominated: you must be independent, and even if a party nominates you, you must be fair and impartial, judging in accordance with the evidence.
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The interesting thing about arbitration is that, when the party-appointed arbitrators nominate a president of the panel and the panel is constituted, it becomes fully independent: the parties pay the arbitrators together, and there is no relation or obligation towards the parties: the dispute is judged in a fair and equitable manner, and that’s why it is fundamental for the parties to have good and capable lawyers to argue the evidence and the case; there’s also the fact that, since you chose your own judge, you cannot appeal their decision. This makes it crucial to choose a qualified and competent arbitrator, who has knowledge of the subject matter.
You are the founder of Dorothy Ufot & Co., a prestigious law firm in Nigeria. How does founding and managing a law firm work?
Honestly, founding a law firm is…not exactly a tea party!
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What gave me impetus was working as a pupil in a law firm for around five years, learning the ropes directly out of law school under a pupil master who showed me how to do briefs, statements of claims and defence and how the courts worked; after winning a few cases at that level, and building up confidence with some encouragement and positive reinforcement from my boss, I decided I could go it alone.
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I was left tattled initially, when I first started working alone, by the difficulty of not having someone to double-check and to ask for an opinion: in chambers with my pupil master, I could give him my work and ask him to check, while in Dorothy Ufot & Co., I was the one who had to decide whether or not something was good or bad.
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The biggest issue was attracting the very first clients: people even told me not to name the firm Dorothy Ufot & Co. because it would be obvious that it was a woman’s firm! I thought about it, but in the end I told myself that if I worked hard and could deliver, then the clients would come to me, and it paid off: the firm has been operating for thirty years, and I don’t think you can talk about law firms in Nigeria without mentioning Dorothy Ufot & Co.