IPN Spotlight: Khudabuksh K. Walji (U.S. & Int’l Legal Advisor, Walji International Law Firm)
Born in Dar-es-Salaam, Khudabuksh came to the U.S. as a first-generation immigrant for college. His grandmother always wanted him to be a doctor, so he studied pharmacy to prepare for medical school. While working as a pharmacist, Khudabuksh also served on Jamati committees. At the time, in late ’70s, several community members were being deported. These were heartbreaking incidents, and he felt there had to be a way for them to be helped. Khudabuksh turned his sight to law school and in 1985, started his law practice as an immigration lawyer. After his clients obtained their legal status, many became entrepreneurs with new legal needs. Thus, Khudabuksh attended seminars and CLE courses focusing on business and tax laws to expand his legal practice. In 2002, he was asked to work as Senior Director at AKU in Karachi where he developed projects in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and East Africa. These international experiences opened his eyes to emerging opportunities and transformed his career as an international legal advisor.
What skills have helped you in your career?
Active listening, strong analytical and persuasive skills, project and risk management plus team collaboration skills. As my law practice and staff expanded, my management responsibilities increased and so did my oversight role in execution of legal strategies. These skills became valuable with large clients. As an example, I was engaged by a Middle East group of companies with multi-faceted legal issues relating to U.S. Army contracts valued over $500 million. I had to hire legal and non-legal experts, oversee the work and ensure we were one team. This approach helped rebuild trust and confidence with the U.S. Army HQ, and most of the disputes were resolved. And, when a major contract dispute involving millions of dollars against a Fortune 500 company did not settle amicably, I pursued arbitration route in U.K. instead of litigating in U.S. court to avoid potential risks of collateral damage. We were awarded the full amount claimed by London Court of International Arbitration.
What do you wish you had known or done differently throughout your career?
I should have taken more time to enjoy the journey of life. I came to the U.S. at age 17 and was quickly thrust into survival mode for myself and family. As a result, I continuously expanded my professional knowledge and worked very hard to improve the quality of life of my family. In addition, I served on Jamati institutions and community organizations as a way of giving back to society. As a result, I did not take sufficient time out for my family, including taking regular vacations. I also did not participate in sports although I loved tennis and table-tennis as a youngster. Furthermore, I did not spend time enjoying cultural and art events until recently. Finally, I spent a little time reading about areas of my interest, e.g. autobiographies of world leaders and thriller novels. To summarize, I did not maintain a great “work-life balance” equation. Goals continuously change and therefore enjoying the journey of life is more important than racing to destinations.
What do you do for continuing education and improvement?
Pursue new areas of knowledge – in my case; these new areas were primarily triggered by my clients as they experienced new levels of successes – and challenges too. Therefore, I took professional courses and attended seminars in diverse areas of law, including intellectual property, franchising, real estate development as well as bankruptcy and white-collar criminal law defense. Now as my clients are reaching quasi-retirement phase, I am acquiring more knowledge in wealth and legacy planning as well as impact philanthropy and probate laws.
Serve in community organizations in diverse fields, especially those which require working with domain experts, and which encourage acquiring new knowledge to achieve the best outcomes.
Obtain formal credentials – they open new opportunities, e.g. my additional qualifications as U.K. Solicitor and Dubai Legal Consultant, and the professional certifications, enabled me to become successful in my role as a U.S. and Middle East Advisor.
What is next for you in your career?
My career growth has been defined mostly by my clients as they succeeded in their endeavors. The next phase of my career is to advise clients regarding asset protection, business, and succession planning as well as wealth and legacy planning. In addition, with my clients’ trust and confidence, I am increasingly engaged as their Counselor/Mediator, particularly by global affluent families in solving their sensitive and complex family and business disputes in a confidential manner. I also work to restore the family relationships – this is particularly critical for these families in their succession and legacy planning efforts. I would like to complete my doctoral thesis and obtain my doctorate degree in international relations and diplomacy. And having served as a leadership academy facilitator internationally, including in Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey, I will be exploring opportunities to teach in academia as well as advise corporate and not-for-profit boards.
What advice would you offer to others?
Take time to enjoy life – work hard and play harder! Develop wider interests beyond work and family. Engage in voluntary services with challenging assignments – they provide opportunities to learn from experts and encourage you to take relevant courses. Let me share an example – during my appointment as National Board Member on the Conciliation and Arbitration Board for USA, I was given the responsibility to develop and conduct mediation training programs for the Regional Board Members. To ensure we were utilizing the best practices, I enrolled at Harvard Law School and obtained Certification in Mediation. This new knowledge from a premier institution was remarkable, however, what was more important to me was the access to these distinguished professors to pick their brains. As a result, our mediation training programs were very successful – the Boards handled over 100 new cases per year with a 75% success rate. Finally, learn to be more patient and practice Mindfulness.
Areas where you can help other Ismailis:
• Mentoring professionals and entrepreneurs, especially in their start-up phase and/or when they are in crisis situations.
• Advise law students and professionals regarding legal career choices.
• Act as an advisor on challenging Jamati and AKDN projects.
Please provide the link to your LinkedIn profile:
Khudabuksh K. Walji
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