Rachel Carlton
Rice University
Houston (29.7° N, 95.3° W)
featuring Glory Nwaugbala, Corporate Associate, Wilmer Hale, New York (40.7° N, 74.0° W)
To most kids, the most unbreakable promises are made between pinkies; for young Glory Nwaugbala, TV shows like Law and Order showed her the greater power of contracts and inspired her to become a lawyer.
Glory Nwaugbala is a corporate associate at Wilmer Hale, an international law firm that focuses on the intersection of government, technology, and business. In her role, Nwaugbala provides legal counsel to private and public companies on matters such as technology transactions, licensing agreements, venture capital financings, and general corporate governance. Nwaugbala graduated with a juris doctorate from Columbia Law School and a master of laws from University College London; as an undergraduate she double majored and received a bachelor of arts with honors in political science, and psychology from Rice University. During our video call, I spoke with Nwaugbala as she detailed her career path with the backdrop of an eerily quiet New York City.
Nwaugbala had known she wanted to be a lawyer from a young age. Aside from an interest aroused by legal shows, Nwaugbala’s love of languages, writing, and eventually business carried her to a pre-law track at Rice University. There, after a brief detour as a pre-med, she was reassured of her legal inclinations and gained entrance into her number one choice for law school – Columbia University. Nwaugbala told me the common tale of the importance of first year, or “1L,” law school grades that are the basis of landing a summer internship at a law firm. With only one year of classes under one’s belt, Nwaugbala said that law firms aren’t expecting 1L’s to be full-fledged attorneys just yet.
“I think it’s more about seeing the potential there and the base skillsets of a good attorney,” Nwaugbala said. “So that’s someone who listens, someone who takes initiative, someone who has questions and is smart about their questions… you’re looking for curiosity, you’re looking for someone who’s… a go-getter… that’s what [a firm] really look[s] for when they interview you.”
After law school, Nwaugbala returned to the same firm from her 1L summer to work on private equity mergers and acquisitions, or PE M&A. Both as an intern and as a young attorney, Nwaugbala found herself dabbling in a little bit of everything and enjoyed exploring the law of business. Later on, she began focusing on healthcare regulation. But Nwaugbala was not content following the same path for long. Through a recruitment process, Nwaugbala made the move to WilmerHale for the opportunity to practice start-up work and M&A in a broader range of industries.
To someone like me, entrepreneurship and law didn’t seem like the most natural pairing. With my past experience in a semi-start-up environment, the fast-paced, go-go-go nature of the business and the employees would feel at odds with regulation. However, Nwaugbala pointed to the collaborative partnerships she has had with different start-ups since working at WilmerHale that cater to her interest in business.
“When you work with a startup, you really get to work with them from the beginning,” Nwaugbala said. “That’s drafting that corporation’s documents, talking to them about how they want to do their shares or the structure of their company… you really get to see how a company is built from the ground up from a legal perspective, and even sometimes from the business perspective. There is the reward of being part of building something new, and hopefully seeing that new company you start years down the road become the next really successful company.”
At some point I asked Nwaugbala for the secret to her personal success – from Rice, to Columbia, to the highly prestigious WilmerHale, I figured she had some way of honing her talents. In return, she offered one particularly important characteristic – grace.
“To be a successful attorney, you have to have a little bit of grace for yourself, especially when you’re in a very high achieving, high-pressure environment,” Nwaugbala said. “Every once in a while you’re going to make mistakes. It’s just the nature of the game. But having that grace for yourself to say I made a mistake, take a breath, and then… try again… that above all is a mark of a very successful attorney, because it’s an attorney who still remembers that they’re human.”
As for other important characteristics for a lawyer, Nwaugbala mentioned curiosity, creativity, and the ability to listen. To her younger self and to current college students, she said to enjoy the journey.
“It’s really easy – especially once you get to law school – to decide, okay, this is what I do this year, then the next year has to be this, and this, and it just becomes a series of timetables,” Nwaugbala said. “Yes… there are deadlines and things that need to be done at an appropriate time. But also, enjoy the journey. It goes by really fast.”
Highlights from the interview:
How did you become interested in practicing law?
I couldn’t tell you exactly. I just know that I remember watching this law show as a kid, and I can’t remember if it was Law and Order, or something like that, but I remember watching the show where there’s a contract, and people make promises that are written on paper, and I remember being fascinated by the idea that if two parties sign a written document, then all of a sudden people have to keep their promises. So, it’s better than a pinkie swear, is how I kind of thought about it.
And then as I got a little older, I enjoyed the concept of business. I enjoyed being able to build something, be entrepreneurial, and see how the work that you put in can become something good, whether it’s a monetary situation, or whether it’s a really good work product that you can really see building. And so, a part of me said, okay, I like that, but I don’t want to be an accountant. How do I get a chance to work with businesses and see the entrepreneurial spirit without having to be the accountant, while also joining together my love for words? That’s how becoming a business lawyer of some sort came to mind.
What kind of work did they expect you to be able to do as a 1L summer associate?
It’s not that they really expect you to know the law in the sense that you’re supposed to come out a full-fledged attorney ready to go. I think it’s more about seeing the potential there and the base skillsets of a good attorney. That’s someone who listens, someone who takes initiative, someone who has questions and is smart about their questions. That means anything from seeing something that’s not quite right, maybe there are two documents that are supposed to work together, and you’re noticing that there’s a glaring provision in the second document that doesn’t really make sense. Are you the type that wants to ask questions about why this doesn’t make sense, and dig a little deeper to see if there’s a reason why this second document might be a little different than the first, but why they still work together? You’re looking for initiative, you’re looking for curiosity, you’re looking for someone who’s a go-getter, and that’s what they really look for when they interview you before giving you a summer associate position.
At that first law firm when you were actually a full-fledged attorney, what kind of work were you doing specifically? Like day-to-day?
I was specifically doing private equity M&A, meaning mergers and acquisitions work with mostly private equity companies, and then over time I started doing more of the healthcare aspects of that work. There are some private equity firms who acquire medical businesses, and when you do that you enter into the realm of healthcare regulation and law, and since it’s a heavily regulated industry, you want someone who really knows what’s going on and who focuses their practice that way. Over time, I started veering towards that and really enjoyed it while I was doing it. However, later on I thought, “Oh, I kind of want to do more, I want to see what else is out there.” Again I think that’s the exploratory side of me, which prompted my move to my current law firm where I have the opportunity to continue my private equity work, but also broaden my practice to startup and venture capital work. There’s a smaller subset of firms that really do startup and venture capital work, and that’s what I wanted to try, and so I’m very grateful that I’m now able to do that at my current firm.
Could you characterize a little bit for me what it’s like doing law for startups as opposed to other things you have done?
When you work with a startup, you really get to work with them from the beginning. That’s drafting that corporation’s documents, talking to them about how they want to do their shares or the structure of their company. You really get to see how a company is built from the ground up from a legal perspective, and even sometimes from the business perspective because your clients might come to you with an idea or issue and they’re speaking like business people. Some of them are MBAs, some of them are not, but they’re definitely approaching the conversation from a business point of view. However, you get to hear that and then translate it into what that means legally. I guess in a very simple way, I’d say the difference is when you work with a very large established company, it’s kind of a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows what they’re doing, everyone knows their place, and there is a certain level of niceness to that because you know exactly what to do, where to do it, and there’s a pace that’s set. But when you work with a startup, it’s not a well-oiled machine because it’s brand new. There’s still kinks in it, there’s still things that we’re trying to work out, but there is the reward of being part of building something new, and hopefully seeing that new company you start years down the road become the next really successful company that is the new well-oiled machine.
What would you say to a younger you?
I would say three things. Number one, maintain the characteristics of grace, creativity, curiosity, and being a listener. I think of the four of those, I would highlight to my younger self and to anyone in my younger self’s position, to really not discount that grace. I think those of us who come from Rice, we come from an amazing academic and amazing interpersonal environment, and there comes a point sometimes where you feel like you also have to be amazing all the time, and sometimes you’re not, and that’s okay. We’re human, it happens. Keep grace for yourself. Number two, we should be open to failing because sometimes we find out what works best for us after trying something and realizing that that’s not for us. So me, I did that pre-med thing for a minute and emphatically decided, “No, mm-mm, that’s not for me.” I’ve had some friends who tried corporate work and realized that they’re more of a litigator. On the other side of that, when you’re in law school, there are many opportunities to take human rights clinics or externships such as clerking at a court or taking that one class that you think is wonky. But if it catches your fancy, try it! All you end up doing is finding out if it works for you or if it doesn’t work for you, that’s ultimately what really happens. So, don’t be afraid to fail. And then number three, which is last but not least, enjoy the journey. It’s really easy, especially once you get to law school, to decide, okay, this is what I do this year, then the next year has to be this, and this, and it just becomes a series of timetables. Yes, obey the timetable, there are deadlines and there are things that need to be done at an appropriate time, but also enjoy the journey, it goes by really fast, I mean, look at us now. To me, I was you yesterday, you know?
Interview excerpts have been lightly edited for clarity and readability and approved by the interviewee. This article only aims to share personal opinions and learnings and does not constitute the interviewee’s current or former employer(s)’ position on any of the topics discussed.