I am about to hire Mr Emeka Ugwuonye as my lawyer but I have read some stories posted on Facebook and on some Nigerian-owned websites by some Nigerians that Mr. Ugwuonye was disbarred and was convicted and that he lied about his qualifications. Hiring a lawyer is a serious business. So, I had to conduct some due intelligence on Mr. Ugwuonye. I did the following:

(1) I called the Harvard University Law School Alumni office at Phone # (617) 4953051. I asked them about Mr. Ugwuonye. I was informed that Ephraim Chukwuemeka Ugwuonye graduated from Harvard Law School in May of 1994.

(2) I read all the web-links posted on Facebook by Mr Ugwuonye’s opponents. But these are all Nigerian-owned websites. It is the same story on his case against the Embassy of Nigeria, repeated again and again on these websites and some Facebook pages. From what I gathered from the cases they referred to, it was a civil case between Ugwuonye and the Embassy of Nigeria in which the Embassy claimed that Ugwuonye owed them money and Ugwuonye counterclaimed that they owed him money. So, it was contractual dispute. Even though Ugwuonye lost the case on default judgment, he is appealing that judgment.

(3) I have checked everywhere I could in American public record. I cannot find any indication that the police in America has ever arrested Ugwuonye or that has he was ever been invited by the US law enforcement for questioning for any crime. So, I am confused where these people are getting their stories.

(4) I did discover that in 2008, Mr. Ugwuonye was disciplined by a 90 day suspension in Maryland, which was extended automatically to other states where he practiced law. But this was 2008. 90 days from then expired in November 2008. And Ugwuonye has practiced law throughout the time.

(5) I have also read about how Mr Ugwuonye was arrested and detained in Nigeria over a dispute he had with the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington. Even though I am not a lawyer, I do not see how a civil dispute that arose in Washington and which was already in civil court in Washington would become a reason for arrest of Ugwuonye in Nigeria.

MY APPEAL: I would be pleased if anyone who has any information contrary to the above could send it to me. I am about to hire Mr. Ugwuonye and it would help me greatly in making my decision. All that shows that Mr. Ugwuonye has ever been arrested in America or charged with an offense in the US. Being my lawyer is as much Mr. Ugwuonye’s decision as it is mine. I just need to have once and for all some real evidence of these stories that some Nigerian bloggers have published against Mr. Ugwuonye.

Since yesterday, I have waited patiently for information on the alleged disbarment of Ugwuonye. But none has come. I have taken it upon myself to contact several sources, including Harvard Law School Alumni Office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when it was confirmed that Mr. Ugwuonye graduated from Harvard Law School in 1994, and that was after he had already qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria. Indeed, in a friendly chat I had with the lady at the Alumni office, we observed that Mr. Ugwuonye actually graduated from Harvard Law only 3 years after the President of the United States (Obama). And for those who doubted his Harvard credentials, I have attached picture from his 1994 Harvard Law Year Book, with Mr. Ugwuonye’s picture in it. Mr. Ugwuonye and I shall be completing soon the process of retaining his service. I understand that it is totally up to Mr. Ugwuonye to determine the terms and conditions under which he would accept to represent me. That process will be sorted out soon.

•Photo: A page from the 1994 Harvard Law Year Book with Emeka Ugwuonye’s picture.