Legal Practitioner

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

I am a Legal Practitioner and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association with interest and expertise in corporate/commercial practice, dispute resolution, regulatory compliance, negotiations, drafting and research. As an inquisitive and adaptive professional, I am open to exploring all facets of the global corporate/commercial world and to new opportunities for professional and personal growth.

CORE COMPETENCIES

●Risk and Regulatory Compliance

●Legal Research and Analysis; Legal Drafting

●Dispute Resolution

●Company Secretarial Services

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

April 19 – Present: Legal and Compliance – Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC)

August 18 – March 19 (Secondment); Draft/review Agreements for diverse commercial transactions including loans, leases, commercial papers, Shareholders and Joint Venture Agreements, Service Level Agreements, Employees’ Letters of Employment and Handbook, etc.

●Ensure execution of contracts by parties and monitor implementation of the terms of contracts.

●Offer legal advice in line with relevant laws and regulations on various transactions including offers of credit facilities, financial advisory services to Nigerian Football Federation, N1 billion capital raising of FDC, litigation matters, service agreements, etc.

●Handle compliance matters: send the AML/FTR of the Company to SEC, monitor compliance with the statutory returns of the Company and ensure that the Company is generally in compliance with the necessary Regulations.

●Work with the legal team in training the members of staff on AML regulation.

●Handle Company Secretarial duties including compiling Board packs, attending Board and Board Committee Meetings and Annual General Meeting, taking and reviewing Minutes of Meeting, preparing the Chairman’s Reports, and ensuring that the filings of the Company at CAC are current.

●Liaise with external Regulators and Auditors on the deliverables of the legal team and with Lawyers on the Company’s litigation matters.

●Monitor and update changes in the relevant laws and regulations; prepare legal and regulatory compliance checklist and monitor compliance.

●Attend management meetings and offer legal support to various departments in the Company.

August 18 – March 19 Associate - Auctus Legal

●Worked as a key member of the dispute resolution team that handled matters on litigation and successfully resolved disputes between clients and other parties through negotiations and mediation.

●Reviewed Agreements for diverse commercial transactions including Services Agreements, Partnership Deed, Lease Agreements, Power Purchase Agreement, etc.

●Successfully recovered clients’ debts and handled debt recovery of Investments/Credit Facilities and general debt recovery.

June 17 - April 18 Associate - Koya & Kuti Solicitors, Lagos.

●Worked as a key member of the dispute resolution team: litigation, arbitration and mediation to conclusion.

●Reviewed several Agreements for different commercial transactions including Franchise Agreements between local and international parties, Lease Agreements, Trademark Agreements, Settlement and Financing Agreement, etc.

●Handled restraint of trade dispute between a foreign employee and a Nigerian company and successfully resolved same.

●Handled debt recovery matters and successfully recovered debts.

●Offered company secretarial services to clients.

●Worked as primary member of the research team.

Oct’16 – Jan’17 Intern – CDRK Solicitors, 20- 22 Richfield Avenue, Reading, England.

●I took prospective clients’ brief.

●Conducted baseline research for Legal reports, prepared and vetted legal advisory report.

●Compiled court bundles in preparation for hearing.

July’14 – Aug’15 Freelance Legal Practitioner, Owerri, Imo State.

I specialized in Real Estate practice on a freelance basis and particularly,

●Conducted searches at the Land Registry as well as other preliminary investigations, applied for, and secured the registration of titles to lands and handled the overall management of properties for clients.

●Successfully recovered my client’s premises from seven (7) tenants through court judgments after undertaking the stages of recovery of premises.

Nov’13 – June’14 Associate- Tonye Ibisiki & Associates (Legal Practitioners and Notary Public), Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

●Participated as a key team member in the dispute resolution of several suits both at the preliminary and hearing stages, within and outside jurisdiction.

●Prepared and transmitted court proceedings reports to clients.

●Successfully managed stakeholders’ relationships with external solicitors.

●Coordinated the firm’s schedules and diary.

Nov’12 – Oct’13 Litigation Officer - F.M. Ebofuame-Nezan & Co. (Equity Chambers) Makurdi, Benue State. (NYSC).

I was actively involved in the litigation of most of the firm’s cases and particularly,

●Handled most of the firm’s preliminary applications before the commencement of trial, ranging from preliminary objection to the hearing of a suit, to motions for amendment of claim/ defence, extension of time, etc.

●Drafted numerous court processes and outstandingly, drafted the final addresses for two criminal cases (one of which was COP v Chioma Asika) where our clients were discharged and acquitted.

●Gained office management skills- managed the firm’s diary.

May’12 – June’12 Intern/Attaché - Siji Soetan & Co., Lekki, Lagos State.

●Assisted the legal team in taking clients’ brief.

●Attended court sessions with the Managing Partner and other members of the team.

●Undertook legal research and wrote legal opinions.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATION

●LL.M, Oil and Gas Law, University of Reading, England, UK 2016

●BL, Nigerian Law School, Lagos State, Nigeria 2012

●LL. B, Imo State University, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria 2011

TRAINING/QUALIFICATION

●Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Programme. (Institute of Continuing Legal Education: Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law) 2014.

CONFERENCES ATTENDED/INTERESTS

●Conferences: Participant both at the Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association held in Benue State in 2013, and the 8th Annual Business Law Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law held in Lagos in 2014.

●Volunteering: Secretary and Vice President respectively, at the Breast Without Spot (BWS) Community Development Service, (NYSC program), Benue State, and Volunteer at the Breast cancer awareness programme in rural communities.

●Public speaking: Resource person at a Reading University student-led workshop.

REFEREES

Available on request.

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