Nnedinma C. Ifudu Nweke, with Aking Gump.

Employer: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Title and Practice Area: Partner, International Trade

What was the most valuable lesson you learned in your first year practicing law? It's never enough to simply do just what is required or asked of you. To truly add value and demonstrate engagement, ownership and creativity, you should anticipate and consider other ways to enhance the work product.

Describe your biggest win or accomplishment in practice. I was a key member of a team of attorneys that assisted a U.S. cancer research and treatment center, securing a first-of-its-kind U.S. government license authorizing a U.S.-Cuba partnership to fast-track biotech development to help bring a Cuban lung cancer vaccine and other unique cancer treatments developed there to patients around the world.

Who is your greatest lawyer mentor, and what has he or she taught you? Wynn Segall, who has mentored and schooled me in lawyering and client service. In observing him through the years, I'm reminded time and time again that in work and in life you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. He has also taught me to never apologize for prioritizing my family.

Please share a brief key to your success. In providing guidance to my clients, I try to be as practical and business-friendly as possible, recognizing that my guidance will need to implemented/operationalized and is not merely theoretical.