More than a decade ago, Jillian was rocking the airwaves with her sultry voice as a vocalist in a Kenyan rock band, Dove Slimme.
Dabbling in music while studying law at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, the 37-year-old could have easily become one of Kenya’s most sought-after rock crooner.
But having taken a step back from singing, her voice is now gracing different courts as a litigant with bias in commercial litigation, employment and intellectual property law as a partner at Igeria & Ngugi Advocates.
"I felt I had more to give in that space with my artistic inclination. I wanted to defend the rights of creatives in the intellectual property space."
Born and raised in Nairobi, the University of Cape Town alumna aspired to be a doctor, following in the footsteps of her late father, before the bug of becoming a lawyer bit her.
“I felt I had more to give in that space with my artistic inclination. I wanted to defend the rights of creatives in the intellectual property space,” she says.
Despite being one of the top lawyers in her field, Jillian says that the drive to leave a mark in her field and society drives her to keep learning, saying the moment an individual stops learning, they become consumers.
“I was lucky to be mentored by several people, and the need to give back is what drives me,” adds Jillian.
Locally, she is looking up to June Gachui, an intellectual property lawyer who has opted to specialise in entertainment and the creative industries.
Internationally, she looked up to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the pioneering USA Supreme Court justice, also a pop culture icon.
“The journey is still going on. I want to get to the point where people don’t have to ask how to pronounce my first name,” she jokes.
Jillian notes that what makes her stand out in the field is her fluidity, the ability to mould even a rigid thing, borrowing largely from her artistic background.
“In the next five years, I want to diversify the space for legal practitioners, especially women, take them under my wing, and act as a mentor. I feel like there are fewer women in the field, so I want more women in this space,” points out the legal practitioner.
She notes that her journey to success has not been devoid of challenges with the unpredictability of litigation and the lack of enough women in the practice standing out.
Her life lesson: “Absorb anything and everything you can take. You don’t always have to learn positive lessons but also through the process of elimination.”
Her parting shot. “If you love to do what you are doing, then you will never work a day in your life.”
– By Collins Omulo
