Beyond The Bar: Law, leadership and influence

The legal profession is often viewed through the narrow lens of courtrooms, transactions, and technical expertise. Yet beyond these visible roles, lawyers play a far broader role, shaping institutions, influencing governance, guiding businesses through complex decisions, and contributing to the frameworks that underpin economic growth. Beyond the Bar: Law, Leadership and Influence is a Legal Business interview series spotlighting senior legal practitioners, regulators and in-house counsel whose impact extends beyond traditional legal practice into leadership, strategic influence and institution-building.

To commemorate International Women’s Day, our maiden edition features Jumoke Lambo, Managing Partner of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie. She reflects on how her understanding of success has evolved over the course of her career while sharing insights on leadership, the changing expectations of law firm leaders, and the conversations the Nigerian legal industry needs to have as it prepares for the future.

When you look back at your early years in practice, what is one belief you held about the legal profession that experience has since changed?

 When I began practice, I believed that the strength of a lawyer lay almost entirely in technical brilliance, that is, knowing the law thoroughly, researching and constructing arguments that were intellectually sound. Experience has taught me that while technical competence is important, it is not, by itself, sufficient to build a meaningful career or deliver true value.

Law is ultimately about people, institutions, judgment, and timing. The ability to listen carefully, to understand commercial realities, to build and nurture relationships across diverse sectors, industries and markets, to anticipate consequences beyond the immediate legal question, to exercise restraint when necessary, and to develop soft skills such as communication skills, emotional intelligence, negotiation and persuasion, as well as teamwork and leadership, are the qualities that distinguish enduring practitioners from merely competent ones. I have come to see the profession less as a contest of intellect and more as a long-term exercise in stewardship and trust.

At this stage of your career, how do you personally define success?

Success, for me, has become quieter and more layered than it once was. Earlier in one’s career, success is often measured in visible milestones, promotions, major transactions, landmark matters, etc. Those remain meaningful, but they are no longer the centre of gravity.

Today, I define success in terms of impact and continuity: whether the institutions one helps build are stronger, whether younger lawyers are better equipped than we were, whether clients feel genuinely guided rather than merely represented, and whether one’s professional conduct leaves the system more credible than it was found. Leading Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie has reinforced for me that real success is institutional, not personal. It is measured in what endures beyond you. For me, success is dying empty. Passing on and pouring out everything I know to someone or a group of people, to ensure that I leave behind a legacy.

Looking at the Nigerian legal industry today, what conversations do you think we spend too much time on, and what important issues are not getting enough attention? 

I believe we sometimes devote considerable attention to the “glamour” of the profession: hierarchy, titles, short-term visibility, and traditional markers of status rather than to the structural questions shaping the future of legal services. While knowledge development remains important, we pay significantly less attention to cultivating a strong business mindset in law practice. These conversations have their place, but they can distract from deeper issues that will determine the profession’s long-term competitiveness and resilience.

What requires more sustained focus is how legal services are evolving: the impact of technology on client delivery, the economics of building sustainable firms, deliberate cross-generational talent development, and the ability of Nigerian practitioners to operate effectively within regional and global markets. Equally important is professional culture; not merely compliance with rules, but the intentional promotion of integrity, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and long-term thinking.

A shift toward these priorities would not only strengthen individual careers but also enhance the institutional credibility and enduring relevance of the profession.

In your experience, what role do lawyers play in shaping institutions whether private or public that is often misunderstood or underestimated? 

I agree that the role lawyers play in shaping institutions is often underestimated. Lawyers are frequently seen as mere interpreters of rules after decisions have been made. In reality, our most significant contribution lies in designing the very architecture of institutions. Strong governance structures, transparent regulatory systems, sound contractual frameworks, and credible dispute resolution mechanisms are not accidental; they are the result of deliberate legal design long before disputes arise.

Where institutions thrive, there is often unseen legal craftsmanship sustaining that stability. Where they falter, its absence is evident. The lawyer’s role is therefore deeply preventative and institution-building, not merely reactive.

I recall being seconded to an organisation facing challenges within its corporate accounts unit. The legal team was typically engaged only when issues escalated, and there was a perception that the legal team slowed processes down. By providing strategic guidance on product structuring and client management, I was able to demonstrate the value of early legal involvement. This shifted the approach, ensuring that legal became part of the conversation from the onset.

Do you think the quality of dispute resolution in a country has a direct bearing on investor confidence? From your experience, how does this play out in practice? 

Yes. Investors can accommodate commercial risk, market volatility, and even regulatory change, but uncertainty around the enforcement of their rights is far more difficult to absorb. The ability to enforce the terms of agreements is fundamental, and confidence is significantly strengthened when investors trust that the judiciary will uphold contractual commitments. Ultimately, a country’s track record of honouring obligations and protecting investors often matters just as much as the underlying commercial opportunity.

Efficient, transparent, and predictable dispute-resolution systems signal that agreements will be respected and that remedies will be available when they are not. In practice, investment decisions are shaped not only by the strength of substantive law, but by how efficiently and independently disputes are resolved.

Where investors are confident that dispute resolution will be transparent, timely, and predictable, they are more willing to make long-term commitments. Conversely, where enforcement is uncertain or delayed, even the most commercially attractive opportunities may be approached cautiously or avoided altogether.

Can you recall a moment in your career where leadership and not necessarily legal expertise determined the outcome of a matter or project? 

Yes, there have been several defining moments in my career where the turning point was not the sophistication of the legal analysis, but the quality of leadership applied to the situation. In complex situations involving multiple stakeholders, regulatory sensitivities, or intense commercial pressure, technical accuracy alone is often insufficient. What is required in those moments is clarity, steadiness, and the confidence to chart a path forward.

I have encountered situations where progress did not require a novel legal argument, but steady leadership to take ownership, manage expectations, and guide decision-making with confidence. There have also been instances where presence and accountability as a leader mattered more than analysis. Clients often respond not only to technical skill, but to reassurance and the sense that someone is taking responsibility and navigating the situation with wisdom earned over time.

Experiences like these reinforce my belief that senior legal roles demand more than legal knowledge; they require strategic judgment, maturity, and the ability to inspire confidence in moments of uncertainty.

What leadership skill do you think formal legal training tends to under-develop, but which senior lawyers can no longer afford to overlook? 

Formal legal training often underdevelops soft skills people leadership and commercial awareness. Traditional legal education focuses on technical analysis, individual performance, and risk management, with far less emphasis on team development, emotional intelligence, or understanding law as a business.

However, at senior levels, these skills are no longer optional. Leaders must inspire and develop teams, collaborate effectively, understand financial and operational drivers, and position the legal function as a strategic partner rather than a reactive gatekeeper, making these once underemphasised skills essential for modern senior legal leadership.

When you consider Nigerian law firms and legal departments today, what uncomfortable but necessary changes do you think needs to be made to remain relevant?

We must, first and foremost, move beyond merely acknowledging technology to fully embracing it. The profession has traditionally advanced at a careful pace, rightly prioritising precision and risk management. However, the speed at which technology is transforming professional services means that cautious observation is no longer sufficient.

Law firms and legal departments must become far more deliberate about adopting tools that improve efficiency, strengthen knowledge management, enhance client experience, and free lawyers to focus on higher-value advisory work. Technology should not be viewed as a threat to tradition, but as an enabler of better, more sustainable practice.

Equally significant is the question of culture. The environments in which lawyers are trained and expected to perform will determine not only productivity, but also collaboration and long-term resilience. There is a growing need to move away from models that equate excellence solely with endurance, and toward cultures that value mentorship, shared responsibility, the well-being of staff, and thoughtful succession. These shifts can feel uncomfortable because they require letting go of familiar measures of success, yet they are essential to building resilient firms and legal departments.

Looking ahead five to ten years, how do you see the Nigerian legal industry evolving, and what should today’s leaders be preparing for now?

 Looking ahead five to ten years, I see the Nigerian legal industry becoming more integrated with regional and global markets, with technology playing a bigger role in how work is done. Routine tasks will increasingly be automated, while clients will expect more sector-specific, commercially practical advice.

For today’s leaders, the preparation is clear: we must spearhead the deployment of legal technology, develop teams that can confidently leverage digital tools to enhance efficiency, improve knowledge management and deliver faster, more precise work, while also cultivating globally aware, adaptable lawyers whose professional judgment, ethical grounding, and commercial understanding remain central to practice, because the firms and legal departments that succeed will be those that balance innovation with integrity and build institutions ready not just to respond to change, but to lead it. 

Finally, what piece of advice would you offer to lawyers stepping into positions of influence whether in private practice, corporate organisations, or public service?

Guard your integrity carefully, because influence without credibility is ultimately fragile. Remain intellectually curious, because the law does not stand still. Invest in people, because no meaningful work is accomplished alone. Additionally, have a sort of ‘quiet strength’. Do not be in a room and be irrelevant. And remember that positions of influence are, in essence, positions of service. The question is never simply how far one rises, but also who and what one lifts along the way. You must give to gain.