Bai Modi was born on 15 December 1933 at
Kuntaur (a Gambian town) to Ebrima Joof and Aji Anna Samba. He was named after his paternal grandfather Modi Joof (a
Serer prince of
Sine-
Saloum and
Jolof origins), and was the younger brother of
Alhaji Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof, the Gambian
historian, politician and
nationalist during the
country's colonial period. Bai Modi attended the Roman School in
Banjul before passing his primary exams and progressed to the
Gambia High School in Banjul (now the Gambia Senior Secondary School). In the Gambia, Bai Modi held various jobs, but mainly as a
civil servant working as a
tax-assessor. He left for the
United Kingdom in the late 1950s to study
law where he was also employed as a civil servant working as a tax officer with the
Inland Revenue (now the
HMRC). Having studied law at the
University of London (
Senate House) he was
called to the bar on 26 November 1974 and was a member of the
Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. The following year (1975), Bai Modi left the UK with his family and returned to the Gambia where he established his
chambers called ''Gal N'Goneh Fambai's Chambers'' in the Gambian capital of Banjul at number 5 Wellington Street. His chambers which was next to the river had to be relocated to number 2 Hagan Street (Banjul) around 1990 - 1991, adjacent to
the Point Newspaper at number 1A, which became its official base until Bai Modi's death. ==Legal career==