BABATUNDE AKINYANJU
Babatunde is a legal adviser at the East London Family Court. He advises lay justices in all aspects of Public and Private Law including Child Arrangements Orders, Adoption and Family Law Act matters (Non-Molestation and Occupation Orders) Babs read law at the University of Lagos and was called to the Nigerian Bar in March 1988. He requalified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in June 1995. Over the past 28 years Babs has specialised in criminal litigation, family proceedings, licensing and civil litigation. In the course of his career he has trained Met. Police Officers, Women’s Refuge Groups and members of the Nigerian Judiciary. In 2014 Babs took a career break and worked as an independent consultant in the law and education sectors in Nigeria. Babs was chair of BNLF from 2009-2015 and is currently its Treasurer. He is a member of the Justices Clerks’ Society; Law Society of England and Wales and Nigerian Bar Association
SCOTT COWAN
Co-founder and CEO of Africa Legal, part of the Africa Professional Services Group. Africa Legal was founded with the goal of helping African legal professionals access the latest jobs and legal news in one place. We have also invested heavily in providing a market leading legal education offering on our website that will allow law students and practicing legal professional to upskill through online courses that offer accreditation and partnerships with leading universities across Africa.
MORAY MCLAREN
Moray has been advising law firms for over 20 years. A lawyer by training, he completed an MBA in legal services before assisting one of the London law firms on their global expansion.
Today he advises the top independent law firms as they review their practice focus, governance, remuneration and ownership models. Many are coming to terms with the changing needs of their people and also their clients during what are increasingly competitive times. He has spoken and published widely on law firm strategy and was the inaugural Chair of the Strategy Group of the IBA´s Law Firm Management Committee (LFMC).
Moray also assists the global law firms as they enter new markets. Over recent years his work has focused on continental Europe, Latin America, Africa and India.
As a business school professor and executive coach, Moray works with leaders who want to improve their team performance. Many of his projects now involve the design and delivery of leadership programmes and the facilitation of workshops and retreats.
He is an Associate Professor at IE Business School, ranked by The Economist as the best in continental Europe, and a faculty member of the IE Financial Times Corporate Learning Alliance. He is also a Fellow of Harvard´s Institute of Coaching.
MATTHEW WOOD
Matthew specialises in the development and financing of energy and infrastructure assets including utilities (both conventional and renewable), petrochemicals, oil & gas, ports, mining, airports, education and transport.
He has gained broad experience advising sponsors, lenders (including Islamic banks and export credit/multi-lateral agencies) and government institutions across a diverse range of jurisdictions in the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia.
KAMAL SHAH
Kamal’s focus is on international arbitration, litigation, fraud and asset recovery in Africa and India, given his extensive experience there.
He acts for governments, government entities, banks, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of matters including those relating to projects and infrastructure, joint ventures, banking and finance, shareholder arrangements, energy and a range of schemes commonly used to defraud individuals and corporations.
Kamal is highly ranked in the legal directories including The Legal 500 UK, Chambers (UK, global and Asia Pacific) and IFLR1000 as well as being listed in the Lawyer’s Hot 100 list of leading lawyers in the UK for 2009 and 2014. “Kamal Shah is highly experienced in Africa and India-related arbitrations” (Chambers UK 2020, International arbitration) and “he understands the continent” (Chambers Global 2019, Dispute resolution Africa-wide). He was named as a leading international arbitration practitioner in “Who’s Who Legal: Future Leaders 2017 – 2020” and has been recognised in The Legal 500’s Powerlists for arbitration and Africa for 2019. In addition to being a LCIA Court Member, Kamal is currently the president of the LCIA African Users Council. He has also been listed in India Business Law Journal’s top 100 international lawyers for India-related matters. Kamal is also commended for being “charming, and wonderful at handling clients” and as having “an uncanny ability to determine what is going to be in the best interest of the client.”
Kamal co-published the text of the ‘African Promise’, which seeks to tackle the under-representation of Africans on international arbitration tribunals. He is also the co-author of the leading text “Arbitration in Africa: A Review of Key Jurisdictions”.
Sources describe him as “very impressive” and commend his “very good client-handling skills.”.
TONY WILLIAMS
Tony Williams has more than thirty five years’ experience in the legal profession, occupying senior management positions as well as direct client handling and fee earning. He is admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales, Hong Kong and Victoria, Australia. In Jomati Tony does not practise as a lawyer.
As principal of Jomati Consultants, Tony has worked for a range of international and domestic firms in the UK, US and Continental Europe, Asia and Australia. His advice covers such matters as management succession, partner appraisal and remuneration, peer reviews, firm strategy and its implementation including business planning and the positioning of law firms in their market. He is also actively involved in firms’ strategic expansion including mergers, new offices, alliances and team hires. He also assists firms on reorganisations, profitability analysis and client strategies.
Before founding Jomati Consultants Tony was worldwide managing partner of Andersen Legal and head of its UK practice. He developed the international strategy for Andersen Legal, which in 2001 was the ninth largest global law firm in fee income. Following the Enron crisis he managed the dissolution of Andersen Legal and of the English law firm Garretts. For his role in the orderly and controlled dissolution of Garretts he was named “Partner of the Year” by The Lawyer Magazine in 2002.
Prior to joining Andersen Legal, Tony was managing partner of the world’s largest law firm, Clifford Chance. He was with Clifford Chance almost 20 years and prior to his managing partner role he was a corporate partner in London, Hong Kong and the managing partner of the firm’s Moscow office.
Tony is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Law.
Tony is also a non executive board member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
HAROLD BRAKO
Harold is a finance litigation and disputes partner. He specialises in banking and finance litigation, with particular expertise in asset based lending and receivables financing. He provides advice to a wide range of clients in the finance sector, including members of the Asset Based Finance Association and the Finance and Leasing Association as well as the major UK clearing banks.
Harold is an experienced litigator, advising clients in relation to all aspects of dispute resolution including claims for and against lenders, fraud claims and asset recovery involving urgent injunctive processes, contractual / commercial disputes, reviews and enforcement of security and insolvency proceedings.
Following 10 years at DLA Piper UK LLP, in 2009 he founded and headed up the Manchester office of Shoosmiths LLP. He joined Addleshaw Goddard LLP in 2017.
CECILIA AKINTOMIDE, OON.
Cecilia Akintomide joined the Board of FBN Holdings Plc. on July 19, 2016. She is a seasoned professional with executive level management experience. She was, until recently, Vice President Secretary General of the African Development Bank, where she was responsible for managing the secretariat as well as shareholder relations involving 80 member states. She was also responsible for the work programs of the Boards, and the institution’s diplomatic relations. In addition, she was a member of the senior management coordination and operations committees and chaired the committee for the preparation of the Annual Meetings.
Prior to her role as VPSG, she headed the public and private sector financing legal services team, covering projects in the whole of Africa, and also served as Chief Counsel Institutional Affairs, as well as Finance Counsel. She brings to the Board of FBN Holdings Plc., her wealth of management experience, particularly from an international financial institution, and her legal experience spanning over 30 years’ post call to bar, with expertise in corporate governance, institutional affairs, business reorganisations and financing. She has practiced law in different jurisdictions, including as a Business Reorganisation Associate in the law firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges, in New York, and as a Junior Associate at O. Thomas & Co., Lagos.
She was a member of the United Nations election monitoring team for the 1994 presidential elections in South Africa, won by Nelson Mandela. She was awarded Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2014 for her meritorious contributions in the field of International Development. She is experienced in working and leading in a multicultural and bilingual environment. Cecilia is a frequent speaker at international events on Law, Development and Gender. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar and the New York Bar. She holds gold and bronze medals in swimming, and is a Deacon as well as a member of the church choir.
REMI AIYELA
Remi Aiyela is a partner at Gunnercooke llp. Her expertise is wills for clients with a high net worth. She specialises in creating premium wills for the UK for clients who want to pass their wealth on to future generations effectively and tax-efficiently. She has over 20 years’ experience making wills for business owners, company directors, executive management, celebrities and international clients. She works with advisers across other jurisdictions to provide comprehensive advice to UK clients with foreign assets and international clients with UK assets, ensuring a joined-up approach.
She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the leading global professional association for practitioners who specialise in family inheritance and succession planning. She writes and speaks regularly about wills.
BABATUNDE OBRIMAH
Dr. Babatunde Oghenobruche Obrimah is the Chief Operating Officer, COO of FinTech Association of Nigeria (FinTechNGR) and has responsibility for the day to day management of the association. An accomplished and multi-talented executive with substantial experience developing and leading banking, financial, project/program and administrative management. He’s skilled in managing all aspects of business, leading finance, and implementing best development strategies for operational excellence. Ability to provide leadership and direction for all corporate activities and staff members ensuring alignment with organizational mission, vision, strategic objectives, and annual performance targets. Skilled in leading end to end business change, from readiness and impact assessment to implementation of sustainable transformation and benefits realization.
Highly Instrumental in developing new services and projects, including setting realistic and achievable goals and outcomes. A true leader able to influence revenue positive outcomes, establish/direct robust financial management capability, and formulate strategies to enable strong financial governance to mitigate risks and improve profitability. Successful in developing and motivating high performance teams to exceed challenging business objectives across a multitude of channels.
Educational achievements include a D.B.A, M.B.A, B.Sc./M.Sc. Agronomy and certifications in Project Management (PMP & PRINCE2) and Life Coaching. I have attended various international and local programs on leadership, strategy, marketing, skills, risk management, amongst others.