Zaman aims to share how she and other women lawyers overcame challenges to redefine success
From an early age, Nadia Zaman was suited to be an advocate. At 14, she was the youngest speaker invited to a conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to advocate for environmental rights. A few years later, she assisted in establishing a child abuse network at a hospital in Accra, Ghana.
During her undergraduate degree, Zaman was the co-director of the UNICEF youth engagement program at the University of Toronto. She then studied law at U of T and volunteered at the Downtown Legal Services clinic.
While articling at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Zaman was exposed to labour and employment practice and her future as an advocate seemed set. But then disappointment set in when she was not offered an associate position at the firm.
“When it happened, I did not think of it as a blessing in disguise. Because I was still processing that experience and trying to make the most of it,” says Zaman.
In hindsight, though, this was one of a few early-career challenges for Zaman that forced her to think more deeply about what she wanted to do as a lawyer.
“One of the big reasons why I still am in private practice and still enjoy private practice so much is because that experience forced me to really think about what I want to do, as opposed to just going with the flow.”
Zaman was called to the bar in 2016 and knew that most opportunities for junior associates would come from something other than a job posting, so she decided to broaden her professional relationships.
“I did not have anyone within my family or friends circle outside of the people that I knew in law school, who were already in the legal field that I could rely on… Thankfully, one of my favourite things about practising law and being in private practice is building those relationships.”
Zaman eventually landed a position at the employment law firm Rudner MacDonald LLP starting in October 2016. However, her early career challenges were far from over. In August 2017, Rudner MacDonald LLP ceased operations, and Zaman and several others joined Stuart Rudner as he launched his new firm, Rudner Law.
“For me, as a junior lawyer, being able to see a firm being built from scratch and being a part of the process was extremely valuable. I knew that I had an interest in the business of law side of things.”
Zaman says Rudner ensured all the lawyers at the firm focused on writing and speaking engagements to build their brand, but he also sought their input in running the firm.
“I have to give Stuart credit for knowing that if we were a part of that process, it would only make the firm better and only make us even more invested.”
Zaman’s early challenges with rejection and uncertainty, and her interest in building relationships, prompted her to share her story and those of other women lawyers facing challenges. In 2022, Zaman launched a newsletter on LinkedIn titled “Secret Sauce for Success.”
“One thing that I noticed was that on LinkedIn, and social media in general, there was still this idea of what a lawyer looks like,” Zaman says. “My desire is to simply share stories from women lawyers to help others relate, connect, learn and be inspired. And that really was the tagline behind Secret Sauce for Success. I wanted people to know that there are different types of successes out there. People define things differently.”
Zaman says many lawyers have contacted her since she started the newsletter to suggest lawyers she could profile but also to “say that it makes their day to read the profiles.”
She also recently spoke at a South Asian Bar Association symposium for women lawyers about her experience with maternity leave and returning to work post-leave. Zaman contacted many women about their experience with maternity leave before she took hers, and much of the feedback was negative.
“There are a lot of perceptions out there that people will have. And it doesn't even necessarily need to be people at your own firm. It could be people outside of your firm, it could be opposing counsel, or it could be clients. A lot of these things are subtle. And I think one thing to really focus on is trying to drown out the noise as much as possible.”
Zaman says one of the key messages she wants to give is that it is also the firm’s responsibility – not only the woman who is returning – not to make negative assumptions about a woman’s ability to take on work.
“There's this assumption that ‘I don't want to bother this person because they just returned from leave, so I might as well not even invite them’ because then they might feel obligated, and it would be more respectful to just not even invite them. Definitely don't make assumptions. Let the person decide for themselves,” she says.
For lawyers planning to go on leave, Zaman says, “I think the main thing is to communicate and be comfortable with that because no one is a mind reader.”
She says she was lucky to have a firm that supported her by ensuring she was not sidelined when she returned, but she still felt it was a challenge to communicate with clients and opposing counsel.
Zaman says the profession needs to have more of these conversations so that women going through pregnancy know that their fears about managing everything are perfectly normal.
