Interview with: Ola Alokolaro, Managing Partner

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Advocaat Law Practice from your competitors?

There are a number and I will go through each one:

Positive Client Interaction

Nothing beats a positive client experience for differentiating any firm, and the benefits of engaging Advocaat Law Practice (ALP) as a firm to assist you with your transactions is that we are committed to consistently offering this – through direct client interaction, accessibility to lawyers at all levels, less bureaucracy and tailored, personal attention to our clients’ work. This individualised experience invariably results in repeat mandates from our clients and also referrals to our firm.

Effective internal relationships

At Advocaat we also prioritize effective working relationships between partners, associates and support staff which has allowed for dynamism and effective transfer and sharing of knowledge. As a team we adopt a taskforce approach and pride ourselves in being able to work quickly and communicate well internally.

Regular provision of relevant information

We are considered as thought leaders in our areas of specialisation and use our knowledge to help our clients and networks to keep abreast of policies laws and regulations that may impact our clients’ businesses by providing training and by sharing relevant information through podcasts, articles, and by being active on social media. Our lawyers also speak at industry events and by these means we can continuously be of value to our clients and networks.

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

We are near concluding our national elections which should further deepen our democracy and allay any investor fears of political risk. As the world slowly recovers from the covid pandemic, we envisage growth in a number of practice areas

1. Environmental Social Governance (ESG) is becoming a key concern for major sectors and industries in Nigeria. This is because consumers, employees, and investors are becoming more determined to align with companies that are doing good and giving back. Some of the new legislations introduced for instance the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 introduces new concepts such as the Host Community Development Trust Fund which mandates operators to participate as a matter of law in environmental and social sustainability actions in the communities in which they operate. This is in addition to other extensive provisions to protect the environment, such as decommissioning and the abandonment of petroleum wells, installations, structures, utilities, plants and pipelines in accordance with international best practice. In addition, Principle 26 of the Nigeria’s Code of Corporate Governance (“NCCG) aims at improving sustainability among other laws.
2. Data Protection: The advent of technology has made the personal information susceptible to violation with a rising increase in identity theft, cybercrimes, cyber bulling among others. So, data protection is an evolving area and as use of the law and regulations in these areas develop so will the focus on this area. We have already seen this year the Nigerian Data Protection Bureau commence investigation on 110 data controllers and data processors an indication that Regulators are beginning to take the issue of protecting the personal data of data subject with more seriousness.
3. Fintech: With the influence of globalisation, digitalisation and social media, e-commerce has become the order of the day for most day-to-day commercial transactions and with Nigeria seeking to introduce a cashless policy there has been a surge in the introduction of payment service providers (fintechs) and card schemes such as Visa and MasterCard. We expect to see continued growth in this area as the Central Bank of Nigeria pushes its financial inclusion and cashless policy agenda.
4. Power sector: The Nigerian power sector though beleaguered with liquidity issues will continue to be a growth sector as new policies are introduced to ensure reliability of supply. We have seen government provide credit support to privatised generating and distribution companies to ensure stability of the market structure but envisage more policies that will facilitate the unbundling and hopefully privatisation of the transmission segment of the value chain. We also envisage a growth in renewables as Nigeria seeks to meet its NDP for climate change.

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

We have introduced technology that will help some of our clients with legal compliance thereby quick executive guidance to better manage risk and make clearer decisions. The pandemic has also necessitated that we develop more efficient processes for delivering services to our clients ensuring that personal experience for each client.

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

Technology today is invaluable and has impacted the way we provide services in a number of ways. The pandemic was particularly useful in pointing out the essential technology that lawyers in our environment lacked and the use of day-to-day technology, such as video conferencing and virtual meetings, or e-signatures for documentation, as well as the introduction of remote working, are amongst the changes that law firms, including ALP, quickly embraced during the pandemic and beyond. Undoubtedly, the use of technology has simplified the mode of communication between ALP and its stakeholders across continents, and also reduced the need to engage in unnecessary long distance travel significantly.

At ALP we believe that law firms must consistently embrace new technology to run an efficient firm and we therefore maintain a willingness to embrace and employ technological solutions for effectiveness and in order give our team confidence, and to build tech savviness internally. That said, the menu of legal technology that is useful and available to us is vast – (including legal research tools, time and billing trackers, and accounting software) – and determining which technological solutions to employ to keep the firm running effectively, whilst securing maximum benefit to clients, always requires careful thought and consideration.

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

At ALP we are committed to providing continuous support to our clients and introducing initiatives that add value to their business. Business is about connections and what we seek to do is not only to provide legal solutions to our clients’ businesses but where the opportunities and needs exist, match some of our clients together for the mutual benefit. In a recent bid round which required a consortium with different competencies, we were able to bring together a number of our clients to form a consortium to bid for the asset which was eventually won. This was a clear case of adding value to all the participants businesses and ensuring their growth which is inimical to our growth.

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Nigeria is a maze when it comes to the ease of doing business and clients are indeed looking for strategic direction and stability when it comes to the laws and regulations governing their business. So, to have a law firm at hand that provides the necessary comfort to clients is often the paramount consideration for clients and it is this comfort that we seek to provide always. We have regular 5 year plans the cycle of which ends this year. Though the last 5 years was blighted by the pandemic, we look to continue on our growth path for the next 5 further entrenching ourselves as a leading national firm whilst looking to leverage on our relationships to have a fully-fledged African firm that can assist clients across the various countries on the continent.