British Nigeria Law Forum

BNLF Diary Dates

BNLF Informal Networking - The next networking meeting is taking place in London on Wednesday 8 July 2009 from 6.30pm.
Venue, the Brookes Brothers Wine Bar & Restaurant, 33-35 Brooke Street, London EC1 2NS (Brooke Street is off High Holborn. Nearest tube station is Chancery Lane (Exit 2). Brooke Street is the immediate left turn, just after Barclays Bank. The bar is located on the left hand side and is signposted.).

BNLF Legal Surgeries - Every first Thursday of the month at The Nigerian Chaplaincy, St Marylebone Church, 17 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5LT, 7.30 – 8.30pm. Free legal advice to the public from BNLF lawyers. Click here for further information and protocols.

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The independent Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) selects candidates for judicial office. It does so on merit, through fair and open competition, from the widest range of eligible candidates. We are delighted to be able to announce our agreed programme of selection exercises for 2009-10, please see our website at http://www.judicialappointments.gov.uk/current/forthcoming.htm for further information.

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Africa: Fighting the Downturn : Seminar and Reception - Thursday 9th July, 6pm, The Law Society, Chancery Lane. The President of the Law Society, Paul Marsh, will be hosting a seminar and reception on Thursday 9 July focusing on the recent growth in Africa's emerging markets and highlighting the opportunities and challenges for lawyers and firms in key sectors in Africa. Speakers will discuss recent developments in banking, infrastructure and energy sectors and will address the immediate and long term prospects for legal services in Africa's rapidly emerging markets. Speakers are to include:

- Dr. Lambert Shumbusho, Senior Counsel, Chevron North Sea Limited
- Douglas Bennet, Senior Investment Adviser, (Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund) Frontier Markets Fund Management
- Ade Adeola, Managing Director, Project and Export Finance, Standard Chartered Bank
- Elikem Kuenyehia, Managing Partner, Oxford & Beaumont Solicitors, Accra, Ghana

Further information on this event is attached. This event is free of charge to all Individual and Corporate Members of the Law Society's International Division. Non-members £25 + VAT. Places are limited and should be registered online following the link below - http://international.lawsociety.org.uk/files/Africafightingthedownturnheadeddoc.pdf

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LAGOS - THE ARBITRATION HUB FOR WEST AFRICA: 9 July 2009 at 5pm
Business Council for Africa are indeed fortunate to be able offer members the chance to hear the Honourable Attorney-General, Olasupo Shasore, FCI.Arb, SAN speak on arbitration in Nigeria on Thursday 9th July at 5pm. He is currently setting up the first arbitration centre in the country where business people both local and foreign will be able to take their disputes for settlement. The Honourable Attorney-General is also happy to answer questions from members on doing business in Lagos State. Mr Olasupo Shasore, FCI.Arb, SAN was appointed Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State in June 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University and a Masters in Law from University of Lagos, both in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators U.K. (Nigeria Branch) and the immediate past Vice President of the Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria. Before his appointment as Attorney-General, Shasore was a partner in the law firm of Ajumogobia & Okeke, a leading Nigerian commercial law firm. He has several articles and papers to his credit and has recently published a book - Jurisdiction and Sovereign Immunity in Nigerian Commercial Law.

This event is kindly sponsored by Addie & Co Solicitors and BCS Universal.
Click here for a booking form to reserve your place as soon as possible.

Karen Sussex, Executive Secretary, Business Council for Africa, West & Southern
Britain Nigeria Business Council
2 Vincent St, London
SW1P 4LD
Tel: 0207 828 5544
Fax: 0207 828 5251
Skype: karen.sussex
Email: info@bcafrica.co.uk

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The 2009 Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference takes place in Lagos, from the 17th-21st August. The theme for this year is 'Under Developed Nations, Failed Economies and the Future of the Legal profession in Nigeria'. The venue is a new conference centre based in Lekki. If you would like to attend as a BNLF delegate please let us know by email at info@bnlf.org.uk. Further information about the conference can be found on the events page of the NBA website.

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8-11 April 2010, The Commonwealth Regional Law Conference in Abuja, Nigeria
Further information available at www.commonwealthlaw2010.org

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April 2011, 17th Commonwealth Law Conference in Hyderabad, India
Further information available at www.commonwealthlaw2011.org

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PREVIOUS BNLF EVENTS
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Meeting the challenges of the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules: The Law Society BME Forum Workshop on Thursday 28 May - 5pm -7.30pm
The Law Society set up the BME Forum in 2008 to develop and deliver products and services for black and minority ethnic (BME) solicitors, working in partnership with BME groups. These groups have identified the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules as a stumbling block for solicitors.
Why attend?
In the current challenging business environment it has become increasingly important to have an effective working business model and to be aware of financial procedures, rules and regulations. With this in mind the Law Society BME Forum is hosting a practical workshop for solicitors which will cover the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules for client account and handling of client monies. This will include the new rules introduced in July 2008, and also bank reconciliations, office monies, and the accountant’s report.
Speaker
Linda Lambert, the workshop facilitator, has worked in the legal, accounting, banking and financial sectors. She has extensive experience of solicitors’ accounts systems, and is the ILCA’s lecturer on Solicitors’ Accounts Rules as well as tutor and examiner for the Associate Accounts course (circa first year university level).
In partnership with:
- Association of Asian Women Lawyers
- Association of Muslim Lawyers
- Black Solicitors Network
- British Nigeria Law Forum
- Society of Asian Lawyers
- Society of Bangladeshi Solicitors
- Turkish British Lawyers Society
Click here for a flyer and registration form

15 - 16 May 2009: NIGERIA DEVELOPMENT & FINANCE FORUM 2009 (NDFF2009)
Financial Nigeria in association with Paceworking UK invite you to the 2nd Emerging Nigeria Conference
CONFERENCE THEME: PROSPECTS & RISKS TO SOCIAL ECONOMIC AND MARKET PERFORMANCES OF NIGERIA
Date: 15 - 16 May, 2009
Venue: The Guoman Cumberland Hotel, London, United Kingdom, www.guoman.com/the-cumberland

For REGISTRATION on the conference Website please click on this link below: www.financialnigeria.com/ndff2009

Payment for dinner to be £45 before 15 May, 2009 or payment received on 15 or 16 May £50 per person.

Pre-event payment information for NDFF2009 Dinner for UK residents only

A cheque for the sum of £45 made payable to Paceworking and posted to PO Box 52809, London SW11 2YS to be received no later than 9th May 2009.

Payment via the Advance Booking Telephone Hotlines: 08717 113055 or 08702 462050

Pass this invitation on to interested colleagues or friends.

Prevention is Better than Cure: Ways of Working to Protect your Firm from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. A BNLF Workshop taking place on 29 April 2009 at 6.00pm for 6.30pm start at the offices of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, One Fetter Lane London EC4A 1JB. Light refreshments provided, ends approx 9.00 – 9.30pm.
Who should attend: Senior Partners, Practice Managers/Firms Complaints Officer,
Solicitors with current SRA issues, Any solicitor intending to set up a practice
Speaker: Bhavni Shah of DG.LEGAL, Experts in Assisting and Defending Solicitors facing SRA regulatory issues
Cost:
BNLF 2009 MEMBERS £ 10 (BNLF 2009 STUDENT MEMBERS £5)
NON-MEMBERS £40 (STUDENTS £20 - student ID required)
2 hours CPD points.
Places are limited and pre-registration is necessary: Register by Friday 24 April 2009
Click here for registration form and flyer.