Vaughan Baio Partner Bola Awujoola was featured in the article, “You Can Be Anything You Want To Be,” published in Super Lawyers – Upstate New York 2023 issue. Bola joined three other attorneys who all shared their stories of immigrating to the U.S. Having spent his entire life in Nigeria, Bola took the leap to join his wife in the U.S. in 2018. One of his first impressions of Americans was our familiarity. Bola remembered wondering “Why do Americans think they can ask for your whole life history when they’ve known you five minutes? Nigerians are private. I think I’ve loosened up a bit by now.” Bola shared that one of the early obstacles he faced was missing his family and friends. “When you’ve grown up somewhere as an adult, you’ve formed your circle. My parents and some of my siblings are still in Nigeria, and we talk every single day.”
Bola was already a partner at one of the most prestigious litigation firms in Nigeria when he made the decision to move to the U.S. Knowing the path to becoming a lawyer in the U.S. would be difficult, Bola persevered and passed the bar on his first try. He was able to call on his legal knowledge from Nigeria as it is a common-law jurisdiction, similar to the U.S., where the basic principles of law are the same. When asked what advice he wished he’d heard, Bola said, “…as long as you are great at what you do, you will rise in this country. Not by favoritism or nepotism, but by sheer hard work and being excellent… And, with consistency, focus and hard work, you’ll achieve.”
Read the full article here.