Why Relationships Beat Discounts in China-Africa Legal Trade

An Interview with Godson Ugochukwu, Managing Partner at Fortress Solicitors

“The person that will come to your mind is the person that you know,” Godson Ugochukwu states from Lagos, cutting straight to the heart of international legal business. “If I want to do something in China, the very first person that comes to my mind would be Tianze. It’s the person I know, it’s my friend, it’s the person I trust.”

As Managing Partner of Fortress Solicitors and Chairman of Guinea Insurance Plc, Ugochukwu has built bridges between Nigerian, Chinese, and American markets for over two decades. His perspective challenges the conventional wisdom about price competition in emerging markets.

The Relationship Hierarchy

“His point about relationships is key, and it cuts across, in my experience, every legal market,” Ugochukwu emphasizes, reinforcing what he sees as a universal truth. “You know, the person that will come to your mind is the person that you know.”

But relationships in the China-Africa corridor carry particular weight. “It’s about relationships, and that is one. And then you now go to pricing,” he explains. “Sometimes I find that even relationships sometimes may even trump pricing. Because there’s the peace of mind and the confidence that you get, knowing that the person that is handling—you are putting the work in or you are collaborating with on the work—is somebody whose integrity you’ve tested, you’re familiar with, whose expertise you’ve tested and you’re familiar with, and who has whose trust you have and who has your trust.”

This trust premium can override cost considerations entirely. “Sometimes when you find something cheaper, it might even be a warning bell for you. Instead of being attractive, it might be something that will repel you,” Ugochukwu observes. “And generally speaking, if the price differential is not too much, you want to ask yourself what the price would be for you in trading in, for example again for me, Tianze, for somebody that I do not know, simply because I’m getting it cheaper.”

The Nigerian Pricing Reality

“In Nigeria, for local firms and for local work and local clients, it’s very much like China. Hourly fee is not the norm,” Ugochukwu reveals. “In fact, hardly—and I’m not saying you will never find—but it is rare to discuss hourly fee billing with a Nigerian client.”

This similarity between Nigerian and Chinese markets extends to foreign companies operating locally. “For you to do any work in Nigeria as a foreign company, you have to register a local company. So that local company is a Nigerian company. You find that they also, when they come in, they quickly transition to the Nigerian system, which is a fixed fee model.”

The preference for certainty crosses all client types: “Whether you’re working for—it doesn’t matter who—it’s usually generally speaking, the norm is fixed fee. In-house counsel would always want to know how much this is going to cost us because it lets them compare prices and then know what the general direction of travel is in terms of cost.”

The Race to the Bottom

Ugochukwu describes a familiar pattern that Chinese lawyers would recognize: “Nigerian institutions, especially banks or some energy oil companies, they send out RFPs—requests for proposals. And when you look at the email trail, you know that there are three, four, five firms to whom this thing has been sent. Immediately it pressures you on your pricing because if you want to get in, it’s now a race to the bottom.”

The Nigerian Bar Association’s struggle with this issue mirrors China’s challenges. “The NBA has no way of knowing what my billing strategy is with Powell,” he explains. “And in assigning value to what I need to do, I must always have in the back of my mind the competition, knowing that what if I tell him that I bill say $750 per hour, maybe he will find somebody who will be billing $500 per hour.”

Yet Ugochukwu sees unexpected benefits: “Smaller firms get to actually have a foot in the door because of this price competition. Larger firms tend to have the bigger profile; they tend to have the higher overhead. But if not for the constant battle of pricing, smaller firms may not even be able to feature at all.”

The Hybrid Model Evolution

“These days now, when we offer a pricing advice for any instruction, we give all of those options,” Ugochukwu explains his firm’s adaptive approach. “We give a fixed fee option, we give the hourly billing option, and then the hourly billing option with a cap.”

The sophistication has increased further: “I also find, let me also add, with a cap and a stated percentage discount. I find increasingly that clients, especially international clients, are not just looking for a capped fee, capped hourly billing fee in the hybrid model, but also a stated amount. So for example, we can say, look, capped at say a hundred thousand with a 15% discount up front.”

This transparency reflects changing client expectations: “They are very price sensitive and they want everything transparent and on the table, which is basically anyway what you should expect with any service provider, including more especially your lawyer.”

The Cultural Mirror

“I wanted to quickly assure Gary that his observation about Chinese clients’ disposition towards payment for legal services is not unique to Chinese clients,” Ugochukwu offers with diplomatic honesty. “I don’t even think that it’s something about patriotism. We all love our country, but I can tell you if you ask the average Nigerian lawyer, it’s the same thing.”

He sees deeper patterns: “Ever since my many years of interaction with Chinese clients, the work we do, starting from SCLA all through, one common thing I’ve noticed is the cultural similarities. Maybe there will be a day for sitting down to interrogate whether this particular disposition, this attitude towards remunerating for legal services, the reluctance, the absence of generosity, if you like, the improper appreciation of legal services that should trigger proper remuneration, whether it’s a cultural thing.”

The Foundation Argument

Ugochukwu makes a compelling case for legal value that resonates across markets: “No matter how you look at it, the lawyer’s agreement in that particular country is the solid foundation upon which every other thing stands. You will put hundreds of millions of dollars on it. You will put billions on it. It is on that agreement.”

“When we begin to properly appreciate the work and the role of the lawyer in the grand scheme, that no matter even if you want to build a skyscraper of business, whatever it is, the foundation of it is what the service that the lawyer provides. Then the society begins to appreciate it more.”

Strategic Advice for Market Entry

“What I advise is what I would do if I were in those shoes. I will start from the known to the unknown,” Ugochukwu counsels firms looking to enter new markets. “I will go back to Powell’s point. Start with your relationships if you have any, because this is a new market, and you want to put your best foot forward.”

His reasoning is practical: “The key thing about law firms is that you need that hand holding to tell you where to put your feet in this new place. Because you don’t want to step on anybody’s foot, you don’t want to step on a landmine, you don’t want to—so you need hand holding.”

The regulatory dimension adds another layer: “One thing about law is that law is a highly regulated profession. So you are safer going with a law firm.”

The AI Age Opportunity

Looking forward, Ugochukwu sees transformative opportunities: “I would say first and foremost, AI. With AI, data protection, cyber and privacy—these two key areas. Because one thing I have noticed is that the current AI age has to a large extent suddenly provided a new and emergent level playing field.”

He elaborates on this democratization: “Whether you are a new entrant into the profession or an old hand, whether you are a large international law firm or a boutique one, certain areas that have emerged in this age have leveled the field so much so that all of us are almost at the same starting point.”

The implications are profound: “Those who are able to show up with bespoke services addressing these emergent areas, they tend to eat your lunch. They tend to come in and gain the market share. So if I were crossing the border into anywhere, I think that we find currently that certain issues have become important and are beginning to trend together with this new age.”

About Godson Ugochukwu

Godson Ugochukwu, SAN, FCIArb, is the Managing Partner of Fortress Solicitors and Chairman of Guinea Insurance Plc. A graduate of the University of Nigeria, he was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in November 2022. With extensive experience spanning corporate and commercial practice, insolvency law, IT law, oil & gas, admiralty, aviation, taxation, banking, litigation, arbitration, and criminal law, Ugochukwu has advised on numerous foreign investments in Nigeria, including partnerships between German, Chinese, American, and Swiss companies with Nigerian entities.

He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the African Arbitration Association (AFAA), the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association (BRIPAN), the Swiss-Chinese Law Association (SCLA), the Chinese-European Arbitration Association (CEAA), and the International Bar Association. Ugochukwu regularly serves as arbitrator in local and international arbitration proceedings, including investor-state arbitrations, and has been selected to join a consortium of three law firms advising Nigeria’s Electricity Distribution Companies on contractual and dispute resolution matters.