National Judicial Council Recommends Compulsory Retirement of 2 Judges

• The NJC today suspended and recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice G.K. Olotu of the Federal High Court and Justice U.A. Inyang of the High Court of the FCT sequel to its findings against both justices detailed below:

Justice Olotu:

• That the Judge failed to deliver Judgment only to deliver same in Suit No. FHC/UY/250/2003, eighteen months after the final Address by all the Counsel in the suit, contrary to the Constitutional provisions that Judgments should be delivered within a period of 90 days;
• The Hon. Judge admitted before the Fact Finding Committee of the Council that investigated the allegations that she forgot she had a pending Ruling to deliver in an application for Joinder; 
• That the Judge entertained a post Judgment matter in Suit No. FHC/UY/CS/250/2003 in Port Harcourt after delivering Judgment, which made her functus officio; 
• That in another case: Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/505/2012, Hon. Justice Olotu failed to deliver judgment twice.

Justice Inyang:

• That the Judge included in his Judgment, references to the Garnishee Proceedings, which came after the Judgment had been delivered on 20th December, 2011;
• That His Lordship also included the name of the Counsel to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru, SAN, who came into the matter after the judgment of 20th December, 2011 was delivered;
• That the Judge recklessly signed a Writ of Execution, a day after delivering his judgment of 20th December, 2011, the same day a Notice of Appeal and Motion on Notice for Stay of Execution were filed.
• That the Judge continued with the Garnishee Proceedings despite application for Stay of Execution; and
• That before delivering his Judgment of 20th December, 2011, Hon. Justice Inyang ignored a properly filed Motion on Notice for leave to file additional witness Statement on Oath.

The NJC also issued warning letters to: Hon. Justice Dalhatu Adamu, CFR, the Presiding Justice of Court of Appeal Kaduna Division (for absenting himself from duty), Hon. Justice A. A. Adeleye of High Court of Justice, Ekiti State (for very low performance) and Hon. Justice D. O. Amaechina of High Court of Justice, Anambra State (for very low performance), respectively.

Morning Docket

FHC Refuses Sanusi's Ex-Parte Application for Reinstatement

Justice Kolawole of the Federal Court sitting in Abuja yesterday refused to grant an application by the suspended Central Bank governor, Lmido Sanusi, for an interlocutory injunction restraining the President from obstructing, disturbing, stopping or preventing him in any manner whatsoever from performing his functions as CBN governor and enjoying in full, the statutory powers and privileges attached to the office. The court held that it would be unfair to grant such a motion ex-parte.

The fireworks will continue ...

Killers of British Soldier Convicted and Sentenced

Two British citizens (of Nigerian heritage) who were charged with the hacking to death of a British soldier, Lee Rigby, in broad daylight, on the streets of London were convicted and sentenced yesterday at the Old Bailey. Micheal Adebolajo (29) was sentenced to life in prison while his accomplice Micheal Adebowale (22) was sentenced to a prison term of 45 years.

Judge Nigel Sweeney described the killing as "sickening and pitiless".

US Law School Hiring Remains Flat

The 2008 recession caused a steep drop in out of school hiring by US law firms, and the effects of the recession has continued to handicap hiring in the years since then. It was so bad that the Wall Street Journal reported last year a drop in enrollments to a level not seen in 36 years. This was directly related to a lull in work in lucrative fields like mergers and acquisitions and firm expectations.

With the relative increase in the fortunes of the US economy, one would expect that that hiring would go back to its pre-2008 levels however this is not yet the case as the National Association for Law Placement provided the results of its research to show that recruitment up to 2013 has continued to remain mostly flat from its 2008 levels. You can read the full NALP report here. Considering the levels of debt that students incur to go to law school, something has got to give. Unfortunately, it is likely we'll see less and less law school enrollments with its attendant effects on the profession.

Law Firm Weddings

It took you guys long enough, but finally we can report on another law firm wedding! One member of the union is a practicing lawyer - former Miss Folake Fawehinmi (Ife, UCL). The other is a lawyer turned business man, Mr.Biyi Alex Adedipe (Unilag).

The wedding solemnization took place on 22 February at the Church of Assumption, Falomo and the reception followed at the Red Carpet event center in Oniru. The socialite couple did not disappoint with a hit band which later gave way for the DJ to take Lagos' young elite into the night.

The bride's firm, Banwo & Ighodalo, was represented by many staff members including Mr. Femi Banwo.

On the Move ...

Lawyers moving from firm to firm or to a company as In House counsel should hardly be news ... it happens all the time. But, its always news. Either because of the personality surplus of the person in question or simply because of the high interest of lawyers to all that happen in their "exciting" universe.

Last week was one of those that had everyone buzzing ... Kem Iheanacho, co -head of the Africa practice at Clifford Chance was announced to be leaving CC for US law firm, Latham & Watkins as a private equity partner. To those on this side of the Atlantic who know Kem, this is indeed a major blow to CC. Kem and Ed Boyo (Finance Partner in Frankfurt) have been bullish about Africa and played a major role in swaying a lot of Africa work CCs way. Kem also holds an impressive array of clients - most notably, the Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners. For CC this will come as another hit to its private equity team as Kem is following on the heels of other departures, Global Private Equity Head, David Walker and Partner, Tom Evans left the firm in April and October last year.

We'll be sure to feed you in on the 2013 moves in the Nigeria legal market!

We wish Kem well.

Local Content as the new Normal

Thanks to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act (Local Content Law) local content is increasingly becoming a part of the day to day lexicon of professionals in Nigeria. The Local Content Law gives preferred status and, in some cases, exclusive status to Nigerians and Nigerian controlled companies in the grant of contracts, the use of material and human resource in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. It also makes it compulsory to utilize the Nigerian service industry. Our view is that the Act has achieved modest success in increasing the number of local players in the the oil and gas value chain from the downstream to the upstream sector. Compliance with the Act is certainly viewed as a prerequisite to doing business by IOCs and other oil companies. The effects of this has been consequential. Of all the recent divestments by IOCs, Nigerian content in its equity holding played a significant role.

Other industries are taking cue. There is currently a Nigerian content bill for the construction industry before the National Assembly and the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has recently said that it would release local content regulations for the power sector in February. These regulations will, among other things, "localize both technology and services". This, we assume, will mean requiring companies to manufacture equipment in Nigeria and to hire Nigerian staff.

It certainly appears as though the modest gains so far are an indication success of the local content policy drive ... time will tell though.

Global Firms Compete with African Law Firms

The Global Legal Post reported today that 90 per cent of legal fees paid on matters that arise from Africa are paid to law firms not based in Africa. At conference with UK based lawyers last year, many of the energy and infrastructure  lawyers confirmed this saying that their 70 to 90 per cent of their work comes from Africa.This is  a statistic that will pique African lawyers. The assumption is that African firms will enhance capacity to compete with foreign firms that take all this money (and that is a lot of money) away.

So far that has not happened, not because the African firms cannot compete (Nigerian and foreign firms all have African trained legal geniuses). The real question is whether firms will build up true partnerships, attract and keep the best human resource and begin to work to have active multi-jurisdictional practices. Until this happens foreign lawyers will see more of a case for setting up shop here to gun for the remaining 10 per cent.

Your Law Firm as a Soccer Team

You are a lover of the beautiful game and you sometimes fancy yourself as a sort of "player" or at least an armchair coach of sorts. Let's face it, football is clearly the most popular sport in our law firms and declaring your affiliation is one of the most important initial revelations you will make. It will certainly follow you through your stay in the firm and thereafter.

Well, within your firm, you might as well be a player. At least we like to think of it as such. Here's how: Every level in your firm is a different position. Partners are typically the strikers, closing deals and presenting cases before the courts are their "goals" (The Managing Partner is a coach/Captain). Your senior associates who put together the work associates do and bring experience to bear before presenting material to the partners are your midfield players. Like like Ozil and Fabregas they lay it up nicely for the partners to finish off (I often think if Lord Denning was in a law firm he would liken being an SA to being in the Court of Appeal as the MR and would relish it). Associates build up the game from the defense and form the building blocks of the work that seniors do. To do this you need a very good research and hardworking associate base.. Of course different players often interchange roles and play different roles.

Ok, all this is good fun, but who are you within your firm? Messi or Bentner; Mourinho or Moyes... :)

Gold League Firms

Its been a while since my last post. You know, things get busy...

Ok, so in preparation for posting Nigeria's Gold league law firm, below is an earlier post introducing them. I'll post the firms the next few posts...

In different countries they go by different names - Magic Circle, White Shoe Firms, Seven Sisters, Big Five etc. A monicker to describe a select group that is a class apart. And, in this sense, class is the operative word. An elite group that distinguishes itsellf by the strictest, though unofficial, membership requirements that (even in a country with our history) is earned and not bought. In the legal professions of most countries, these groups appear to have emerged from their peers almost naturally and with that most 'noble' desire to be exclusive. In the United States, the term White Shoe Law Firm was reserved for firms with a long tradition (100 years or more) and (unfortunately) that met the WASP requirement (White Anglo Saxon Protestant).  The initial members of the club were firms like Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy. As with most things American, times changed and the term later referred to big, old, east-coast and fairly traditional firms, thereby admitting Jewish and other ethnic nationalities to the fold (Remember this is not an official group but merely an understanding among peers). 

In the very conservative United Kingdom, land where first among equals holds sway a la Queens Counsel and where the "poshness" of your spoken English sets you apart from the mass of humanity, the club took a more restrictive tone.  4 firms initially emerged - The Magic Circle. To be fair, a rational method is used to determine who belongs in the circle - earnings per partner and earnings per lawyer etc ... but, of course, prestige, schools attended by lawyers and so on provide a subtle subtext. The firms initially were - Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters. The circle is continuously evolving and now  Slaughters & May, I hear, is a new entrant. 

Now to Nigeria. Our biggest firms are generally yet  to acheive the institutional form of their counterparts described above, so it really is still an open field. Yet, some have emerged over a 2 - 3 decade period as leaders. The biggest question (other than what to call our group) in a country with awful statistcs and high level secrecy among many firm partners, is how do we measure our own exclusive club?  Our criteria is straightforward and firms meets each criteria to varying degrees - first, firm revenue; second, visibility (locally and internationally ...); third, a balanced practice (this requirement surpisingly is one of the hardest for our firms to keep up with), and finally, firm structure (another achilles heel). Perception is key, as this unofficial list is backed by a straw poll of lawyers. Well, who are our leading firms? Before I let you in on it, its sufficient to say that all that make the cut are truly writing their names in gold while fiercely competing for each other's business hence the name - the Gold League.  Read about Nigeria's Gold League in subsequent posts.