A solution-oriented transactional legal adviser and the Managing Partner at The New Practice (TNP), Baba Alokolaro in partnership with Legal 500 hosted counsels across industries in Nigeria for their achievement in the corporate world.
They jointly hosted them for being responsible for the firm’s reputation in the e-Commerce and FinTech space in a series of deals across various industries.
Alokolaro disclosed that the programme is the first of its kind in Nigeria to celebrate counsels across industries.
He said: “Usually in industry, there’s a fine line between in-house counsel and external counsel. And if you look at a spectrum of deals or distribution matters, you will see that it’s usually or generally the external counsel that is celebrated.
“So, you hear the name of this law firm or partner in this law firm or partner in this law firm made this achievement or achieved this feat.
“But the two warriors that determined whether they were going to go to war or determined whether the deal was worth doing, either from a compliance perspective or otherwise, are the general counsel.”
So, when Legal 500 started this initiative, they’ve done it in other parts of the world and I believe they’ve done it in South Africa, and said they wanted to introduce it in Nigeria.
“I said, look, what makes the engine room of my firm work? Are the deals that we do. Where do these deals come from? They come from our clients. Who deals with our clients, is the general counsel,” shared it.
The managing partner of TNP further stated that the top lot of general counsel across industries in Nigeria are being celebrated for their wins and achievements.
“We have to keep the foreign entities, the spies, the police. We recognised lawyers within Nigeria. So, you could have local recognition. This is global recognition of what happens in Nigeria.
“When you’re recognised for something you do, you receive an accolade. It’s a medal of honour,” he said.
