Lawyard Spotlight: Titilope Martins-Wakwe

Titilope Martins-Wakwe is the Founder of  Beyond My Law Degree as well as a Company Secretarial, Corporate Governance and Compliance Lawyer at ACAS-Law.

Kindly tell us about your personal journey

Titilope Wakwe: I was born in Lagos, Nigeria. From a young age, I was very interested in the arts and participated in theatre productions, debates and singing competitions from nursery school up until I graduated from the University. Despite my love for the arts, I was a science student for most of my secondary school education because I wanted to be a petroleum engineer and make a lot of money. But with the gentle nudging of my father, my challenges with mathematics and physics and taking into consideration my innate artistic abilities, I decided to switch to the art class and study law at the university. Studying law has proven to be one of the best decisions of my life.

 I studied law at the Ogun State University and also attended the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. I am an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria and the Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria. I am also an Emotional Intelligence Certified Practitioner and currently practice law as a Senior Counsel at ACAS-Law.  

Did mentors influence your career decisions? 

Titilope Wakwe: Yes, mentors did influence my career decisions. My father played a huge role in helping me to decide on which career path to take after secondary school. Even after practicing law for a decade, I still turn to my mentors – lawyers and non-lawyers whenever I need to make major decisions in my career. I believe that you can learn a lot from being mentored by people who have gone ahead of you and successfully navigated the challenges that you may face in your career.   

Please tell us about your professional life

Titilope Wakwe: I have been a lawyer for about 10 years now and my area of expertise is corporate law. I serve as company secretary and corporate governance advisor to various companies in diverse sectors and the core of my work is ensuring that these companies are compliant with applicable laws and best corporate governance practices to guarantee the sustainability of their businesses. 

Lawyard: What are some of the highlights of your work? What are some of the recurring challenges you have had to confront in your current role especially as a woman?

Titilope Wakwe: Some of the highlights of my work include general advisory on best corporate law and governance practices. Ensuring corporate compliance with relevant laws and regulations and developing relevant policies that ensure business continuity.  A major challenge I have had to confront in my role as company secretary and corporate governance advisor is managing the expectations of various stakeholders of my client companies.  My training as an emotional intelligence certified practitioner has however helped me successfully navigate these challenges and I keep learning as I go.  As a woman, balancing work and life has been a challenge particularly in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but I have learnt to priortise and depend on family to assist whenever required. 

What would you say are those factors that encouraged you to go into setting up BMLD? How do you balance your job while running your blog?

Titilope Wakwe: When I set up BeyondMylawDegree (“BMLD”), it was because I wanted to share lawyer stories. I realized that there were a lot of lawyers who were not practicing law but were excelling in alternative careers and there were also lawyers who were practicing law but also had very remarkable talents. My goal at the time was to share their stories to inspire other lawyers. Over time, BMLD has evolved beyond lawyer stories. I realise that lawyers know the law, but they may need additional help navigating corporate life, building a career, maintaining work-life balance e.tc. Some lawyers do not even know how to make sense of their law degrees, they graduate from law school and do not know what to do with their lives and their education. A lot of lawyers are burnt out, underpaid and demotivated. My goal with BMLD is to help lawyers figure out their lives – professionally and personally to provide them with the required education, information and platform to ensure that they live their best lives. BMLD keeps evolving and I am very hopeful that we are on a journey to bring the much-needed help that a lot of lawyers need. 

 Balancing BMLD, work and life has been very challenging. I usually work on the blog after hours and on weekends and also get a lot of support from content creators and research assistants.

Lawyard: What is your parting shot for lawyers who want to be like you and follow the same career path?

Titilope Wakwe: It is important to be clear on what you want out of life, so have clear goals – short and long term. Take some time to look inwards and identify your greatest strengths, talents, skills, and then amplify them. Seek mentors, people who are already doing what you hope to do with your life -talk to them and ask for their advice often. This is a proven path to success. Most of all, believe in yourself, play to your strengths and do what you enjoy. 

What would you say are the upcoming opportunities and practice areas that lawyers should be looking to build careers in?

Titilope Wakwe: Thanks to the pandemic, the world is now so much smaller than we thought before.   So lawyers should definitely explore international partnerships and collaborations. In my opinion, more than ever before, every lawyer can become an international lawyer.  For practice areas, it goes without saying that technology is going to be a big part of the future. Infact, it is already a big part of the present, so cyber security law, data protection law all offshoots of technology will be booming practice areas in the near future.  Lawyers should also pay attention to emerging areas in legal compliance, tax laws and Intellectual property law. 

Outside of work, what do you enjoy?

Titilope Wakwe: Outside of legal work, I enjoy reading,art-related activities, traveling and watching movies. 

If not law, what would it be? Do you think you would do exceedingly well outside law?

Titilope Wakwe: If not law, it will be a lot of other things. I consider myself to be quite arty, so I could definitely pursue a career in the creative arts. I do believe that I would do exceedingly well at anything I decide to do, provided it aligns with my skills and innate talents.