Event Report

Last year, The Legal 500 introduced the GC Summit: Lagos. Held in partnership with Miyetti Law, the summit invited Nigeria’s top in-house counsel to the prestigious The George Hotel for an afternoon of conversation, strategizing, in-depth discussion and networking – all with a focus on the challenges and opportunities faced by the country’s in-house community.

The Legal 500 were delighted to be joined by Miyetti Law in hosting the second iteration of the event, once more in The George Hotel. Delegates were treated to an extended lunch in The George’s own restaurant before being ushered into The George’s Antonello Room for the commencement of the Summit.

To kick off the event, experienced in-house leader Abiodun Peters, of Coca Cola’s Nigerian Bottling Company, addressed the counsel in attendance on all things leadership. With a track record spanning more than a decade of professional corporate experience, Peters has served in senior legal and commercial roles at companies such as British American Tobacco in addition to a wealth of private practice experience. She urged the audience to think widely about their roles as corporate counsel; to not be complacent and to always be working towards innovation; to think long-term rather than short term.

Following Peters’ practical advice, a panel of five senior legal figures took the stage to take part in a panel discussion on dispute resolution in Nigeria. The panellists were Jude Odi Daniel, team lead for Litigation at Miyetti Law; Nnamdi Esionye, senior legal counsel for litigation and claims at Lafarge Africa; Oluwatosin Lewis, executive secretary at the Lagos Court of Arbitration; Okikiola Litan, senior counsel for commercial at the Nigerian Bottling Company; Walter Rugbere, country legal counsel and integrity officer at ABB. What resulted was a detailed discussion on how in-house teams should think about dispute management – what the priorities should be and how preventing disputes is just as important as the steps taken when one eventuates – and how counsel can best take advantage of the many alternative means of dispute resolution available in Lagos and wider Nigeria. The discussions elicited great engagement by the summit delegates, as comments and questions from those in attendance began discussions and healthy disagreements around how cost and time effective arbitrative methods really are, and in what circumstances in-house professionals should turn to them.

The ideas raised in these two sessions were further explored as refreshments were served following the conclusion of the summit, and the in-house counsel in attendance stayed on to meet and engage with their fellow delegates.

Thank you to Miyetti Law for their partnership in this event for the second year running, and thank you to our keynote speaker and panellists.

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