The Firm    Vision    Our People    Practice Areas    Publications    Careers

Abuja
Suite A3 Stallion Estate
Lobito Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
Nigeria
Tel:234-9-6705421-2
tlu@law-union.com

   James Akingbola Akinola

Education

Gbola Akinola graduated Bachelor of Laws (LLB) with honours from the University of Lagos in 1986 after obtaining a B.Sc. with honours in Political Science from the University of Ibadan in 1982.  He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987 and admitted to practice as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Profile

He was a State Counsel in the Civil Litigation Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice, that is, in the Attorney general’s Chambers and later became the Special Assistant to the Solicitor General of the Federation of Nigeria between 1987 and 1988.

He joined the Corporate and Commercial law practice of George Etomi & Partners in January 1989 and became the Head, Litigation Department of the firm (1989-1992), whereafter he established his private practice Gbola Akinola & Co, in 1992.  Prior to Gbola Akinola & Co’s merger with four other practices forming THE LAW UNION in May 1998, he developed a specialty in Corporate and Commercial law litigation, Arbitration, general Maritime and Aviation practice and Environmental issues.

He is a legal practitioner with cognate experience in Corporate and Commercial Law practice and a highly skilled advocate with extensive commercial legal advisory experience.  He has acted on several occasions for ship owners, charterers, shippers and marine insurers including P&I Clubs.  Provided advice on several aspects of shipping law including ship arrests cargo loss and damage, ship sale and purchase, disputes arising out of bills of lading, charter parties, collisions, insurance and other marine related matters.

He has also focused on Aviation, Environmental Law, Civil and Commercial Litigation and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR).  He has acquired considerable experience in negotiation and concluding commercial contracts bordering on acquisition and disposition of Aviation and Shipping equipment.  His contacts are extensive in the Aviation, Shipping, operational, regulatory, support service and corporate finance business within Nigeria and abroad.

He has experience of and continues to seek new challenges in the growing field of Environmental law and practice, waste management, industrial and marine pollution, green issues both within and outside Nigeria.  He has advised clients across the full range of environmental issues, from industrial and marine pollution through waste management and product liability to development control.

J. Akingbola Akinola was appointed a Notary Public in May 1998, admitted as an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in November 1999 and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in January 2000.

He was appointed as a Special Assistant to the Honourable Minister of Information and later Honourable Minister of Cooperation and Integration in Africa in June 1999.

In June 2000, he was appointed a Special Assistant to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Member of the Nigerian Legal Team to the International Court of Justice in the Hague representing Nigeria in the Bakassi case, March, 2002.

Professional Association

Member, International Bar Association, Committee A (Maritime and Transport Law) and Section on General Practice, Committees 5 (Individual Tax and Estate Planning, Wills, Trusts and Succession) and 12 (Civil Litigation), Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Maritime Law Association, and Association of Business Law Firms.

Practice areas

Commercial Litigation/Arbitration, Aviation and Admiralty, Energy and Natural Resources.