"I Try Keeping Up With My Good Grades" - Interview With Nyerhovwo Umokoro (Part 1)

In this exclusive interview with Nyerhovwo Umokoro, he walks us through his journey to Academic Excellence and Legal Career.

Umokoro, a straight-A student explains what the undergraduates and aspiring lawyers need to know.

Can You Introduce Yourself?

My name is Nyerhovwo Umokoro. I am currently an associate in the energy practice team at Templars Law Firm. That’s pretty much it.

Put Us Through Your Educational Journey.

I attended Preston International School, Akure, Ondo State. From about 2011. Ideally, I attended Benson Idahosa University in Benin City, Edo State.

I attended Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus.

That’s pretty much all the schools about education that I have attended.

Can You Tell Us What Drove You To Excel In Law School?

I think it’s more of me as a person.

I have always been motivated to achieve really good grades, I mean if you look at some of the most amazing people in the world and the tail leader, there isn’t any external motivation.

It’s in them, it’s what they have always done, it drives them to maintain that level of excellence, that level of greatness.

That has been my motivation.

When I was at Preston, I came to Preston International School at JSS2.

I was the best student in my year group, all the way to JSS3 when I became the overall.

In senior secondary school, I was still one the best in my year group.

The second actually, but it peaked obviously in SS3 because I got straight A’s in my WAEC. In the Cambridge Exams, I was the best student in Nigeria in two subjects out of the 6 that we did at the time.

It was the first time those kinds of things were happening in my school, and then with a 4.92 as my CGPA.

I essentially got only 3 B’s throughout my university days, I am telling these stories so people get the levels I have tried to maintain from a young.

So, going to law school, obviously, I knew law school would be much harder. It was in the same vein of keeping up with the standards I have set for myself.

So, that was the motivating factor, I mean of course there is the, “ I want to work in a good law firm when I leave and all”.

Those were externalities, but in the main, it was keeping up with the standards that I had set for myself.

Okay, Nyerhovwo this is your standard, this is where you are, this is the level you produce, you have to maintain it.

That was my motivating factor. Just maintaining the standards I had set for myself, already.

While On Your Path To Excellence Like You Said, Could You Tell Us A Notable Legal Research Project You Conducted?

It’s very hard to think of one. I mean I have done a number of research, and I have done a number of personal projects, so it’s very hard to think of just one in my head.

But, I think the one I really liked was; when I investigated sexual violence in DRC (Democratic Republic Of Congo).

I mean, most people know Congo as a war-torn country from pictures and documentaries and all.

But until we actually look deep into the issues of the country, we cannot even begin to imagine what people in that country went through.

It was an eye-opener for me doing research on that and write a paper on it.

Just Like You Were Telling Us That Congo’s Research Experience Was An Eye opener, Can You Tell Us How You Analyze Complex Legal Issues? And Also About A Time Where You Effectively Argued Over a Legal Point.

I could say that I currently don’t practice as a dispute lawyer, in terms of arguing points is not something I do.

I am a corporate practice at Templars, I do not do disputes, so I probably do not have a proper answer to this question.

For analyzing complex legal issues, I have no set way of doing it. It just depends on the issue, the question, and my thoughts on it.

There’s no specific way that Nyerhovwo analyzes an issue, it’s still the question. I always like to get a balanced argument before the opponent/ against.

What is the line in between? Can we get a balance?

I still have to consider all parts, I like to circumspect my analysis. But then, I always try to avoid what people do and just maintain balance.

I don’t like to speak to a particular sect, for the course of critiquing, the merits and demerits of both arguments.

Speaking of Striking Balance, Was There A Time You Found It Difficult To Strike A Balance Between Your Ethical Or Moral Values and Legal Law, Were You Ever In Such A Dilemma?

No!

Tell Us How You Keep Up With Legal Development And Trends

It’s nothing out of normal. Subscribe to some good newsletters, if you are active on LinkedIn, honestly because of my area of practice, I am tilted towards more commercially relevant things, what’s going on. That’s just it, there’s no special way I do it.

Can You Tell Us What You Think Sets You Apart From Your Peers?

I do not want to sound proud, but I think it’s a number of things to do. It’s not just one thing.

I tell people that I think I find the most stressless way of getting a job done. I know precisely what I have to do.

And I would give an example, when I was in university, the way I used to read, I used to summarize notes,. I would just read my notes till they stuck in my head, go take the exam and do what I needed to do.

But when I came to law school, I knew that I needed a more bespoke approach not necessarily because law school is harder, but because of the way law school sets their questions, because of the way you would have to answer law school questions.

At several points in time, I was comparing my reading pattern.

At times, I make it look like it’s effortless, right? But, it’s not, because it’s a lot of effort.

I know what exactly to do, I do not do more than that.

It comes up as if I am lazy but I would say that’s probably one thing out of the many others, really.

That’s one thing about me, I know exactly what to do and the amount of effort I need to exert in achieving a goal, so, I never go overboard.

I Know This Has Been A While but, Can You Explain Your Experience With The Moot Trial Team?

Yeah, you are right. It has been a while.

The first story is that, at the university, I was the attorney general of my faculty, I was the school’s administrative president, and I was eventually conferred with the title of Senior Advocate of LAWSA.

It’s probably funny that I am no longer in these things now as a practising lawyer.

I only have good memories from the Moot Team. I can’t think of any moment exactly right now. But, I remember the time that I used to practice from home, I would read several times, and I used to like reading textbooks. I would read the opposite argument, get the balance, and get the narrative.

I really enjoyed it, I really did but well, as life would have it, I am no longer interested in moot teams.

But, it was really interesting back in the day.

Tell Us How You Prioritize Tasks and Manage Your Time In A High-Pressured Environment.

I am a social person but I am not overly outdoor, let me put it that way. I am not always out, in the sense that, I usually like to be by myself.

I can suffer a bit in terms of spending extra time at work you know instead of going out, so that helps.

And also, it’s time management.

While I was at law school, I was in a choir at my church, and you know what it means to be in the choir now, Saturday rehearsals and then you will be playing on Sunday for like two hours or for two different services.

So, my weekends weren’t exactly free while at law school.

In September, was when I took a break. I didn’t have enough time to read during the weekends, so you can imagine how that was for me.

It’s just time management, like I said, I know exactly what I need to do.

When people read for 12-15 hours, I could just read for like 7-8 hours, do the things I need to get that day and then just move on.

I think that helps me, in a worse situation than I am right now, again it’s doing precisely the right thing because it saves time and prevents me from going overboard.

And again, I know how to suffer a bit. There are times when it gets tough, and you just really have to spend long hours doing something. I know how to just shut everything out and stay away to get the job done. Once I am done, I would just de-stress.

I think that’s it for me, time management, really.

One thing about my time management is, I don’t enjoy all the work at once. What I mean is, let’s say I am reading, I need to read 100 per cent of something. I could read like 80 per cent this evening and do the remaining 20 tomorrow.

I like doing that a lot because it helps me. The second time, you are revising the 80 per cent and learning a small part of it.

It’s just a bunch of different skills, knowing when to pause, rest and come back, knowing when to suffer, making sure to get something done, what to prioritize, and just doing the right things at the right time.

Can You Tell Us About A Legal Issue That You Are Passionate About And Why?

Uhm, I think I am not exactly passionate about just one thing, everything just piques my interest in the right amount.

One thing I would say that makes me emotional is hearing abuse, child abuse, you know hearing about rape cases of women or children especially.

It pains me, I mean if I was into dispute, maybe I could devote a career to that, I don’t know.

But that’s the one thing that really gets me emotional. Other than that, I don’t think I am passionate in the true sense of the word, about anything else.