ACAS-LAW Hosts NBA Lagos Branch Mentorship Session: An Evening with Sola Adepetun – A Legal Odyssey
The serene ambience of the Lagos offices of ACAS-Law, one of Nigeria’s foremost commercial law firms, was the setting for a group mentorship session that traced the life journey and legal odyssey of Adesola Olajide Adepetun, one of the founding Partners of ACAS-Law. ACAS (short for Adepetun, Caxton-Martin, Agbor and Segun) hosted the session in partnership with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Committee of the Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), under the leadership of Tobenna Erojikwe.
A leading commercial law firm with a culture built on maintaining sustainability in business through the consistent provision of technically excellent and creative legal solutions in conformity with the highest standards of integrity, ACAS-Law is renowned for providing world-class legal and business advisory services across an array of legal practice areas to a wide diversity of clients, including blue-chip domestic and international clients, foreign government agencies and high net-worth individuals.
Formally welcoming attendees – most of them young lawyers – to the session, the chairman of the NBA Lagos branch, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe, said the evening was the actualization of one of the core themes of his administration, namely, investment in human capital in the legal profession, and in particular the continued professional and personal development of young wigs.
Akangbe’s remarks were followed by intimate profiles of the subject of the evening, Mr. Adepetun, by three young associates at ACAS-Law – Kikelola, Fisayo and Niniola – who painted the portrait of an exacting but warm-hearted and transformative boss and mentor who knew how to push people (especially subordinates and his legion of mentees) to put their best foot forward – both professionally and personally. According to one of them, Mr. Adepetun was the physical embodiment of Aristotle’s famous maxim: ‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’
A graduate of law from the University of Lagos, Adepetun also holds an LLM from the University of London’s London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He specializes in energy and project finance law issues, particularly in relation to oil & gas development project negotiations, as well as extensive experience in the acquisition and disposal of petroleum exploration and production interests.
Following a short but eventful stint at the law firm of O. O. Koleoso and Co., he struck out on his own with Sola Adepetun and Co. After a fateful meeting with Afolabi Caxton-Martin, the two set up AC Law. The later admission of Mrs. Funke Agbor, SAN and Mrs. Kemi Segun as Partners eventually changed the company’s name to ACAS. Today, ACAS-Law has 10 Partners and a rich complement of brilliant and highly-motivated Associates and other support staff, and maintains offices in Abuja and Port Harcourt as well as Lagos.
With over three decades of legal experience, Adepetun has advised a large number of international companies on foreign investment laws, corporate establishment and accreditation issues, the Nigerian licensing regime and general strategic alliances in the Nigerian oil & gas industry. In recognition of this formidable record of expertise and experience, he has received awards, prizes and accolades from oil and gas industry heavyweights, as well as prominent legal authorities, across the globe. A perennial feature on Euro-money’s ‘Guide to the World’s Leading Energy and Natural Resources Lawyers’, Adepetun has also been described by the prestigious Chambers Global Guide as, “the foremost practitioner in upstream processes” in Nigeria, plus honorable mentions in some of the world’s leading oil and gas and legal directories.
A proud member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Adepetun is also a member of a wide number of organizations and associations such as the African Institute of Petroleum (where he serves as an Associate Director); African Petroleum Management Institute (where he is also an Associate Director); the International Bar Association (IBA) Section on Energy & Natural Resources Law; and the Petroleum Club of Lagos, amongst many others. He is a member of the Governing Council of the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria, and a past member of the Oil & Gas Sector Reform Implementation Committee of the National Council of Privatization.
In 2018, he added another feather to an already star-studded cap when he was appointed Chairman of the board of Standard Chartered Bank.
In a lengthy and deeply insightful presentation – spiced with no amount of self-deprecating humour and witty asides – the subject of the evening, Adesola Olajide Adepetun told the story of his life, from his birth in the early 1960s, to what he described as a rather dissolute and self-indulgent youth, to a later single-mindedness which drastically changed the course and trajectory of his life and set him on the path to his present perch in the world of commercial law in general, and the oil and gas industry in particular. Far from being the result of his efforts, cleverness or persistence, Adepetun was at pains to stress time and again, this astounding success is simply the manifestation of God’s grace upon his life.
In the course of his presentation, and in the question-and-answer session which followed, Adepetun also imparted a few nuggets, reflecting the key life-lessons and core values by which, he said, he had tried to order his life and work:
- Nothing, apart from life itself, is of greater value than integrity. It is a currency that will never depreciate under any circumstance. Cultivate a reputation for integrity, and the right people will invariably gravitate towards you;
- Match your visibility (on social media, at professional or social occasions) with sound and in-depth knowledge, especially in the area(s) in which you are looking to carve a niche for yourself and make your name;
- By all means, specialize (in a key area of the law). But don’t do it too early. Be careful HOW you specialize. Ground yourself with some general knowledge and experience first.
- Don’t go into partnerships with people you do not trust implicitly. Apply the spirit of discernment. A partnership is like a marriage – it will have its ups and downs. But constant and open communications goes a long way. Ask yourself how this person complements you, and vice versa. Always look for character and competence.
- Have the right frame of mind. Be steeped in the art of compromise. Do not think that the universe revolves around you. Egotists don’t go far in the long run. There is no shame in giving ground sometimes – especially in pursuit of a larger and more widely beneficial goal.
- Whatever area(s) you choose to specialize in, GIVE IT YOUR ALL. Mediocrity is not an option. You cannot be on the same level with everybody else; it’s too crowded for comfort.
- Consult widely.
- Cultivate your sociable (i.e. your EI – Emotional Intelligence) side. Nobody likes a grouch, no matter how competent he or she may be. Be an interesting as well as an able person. There is a strong and undeniable link between sociability and success. Find it.
- Take stock from time to time; engage in a bout of healthy self-assessment, with the sole aim of getting better (at your work and in your range of inter-personal relationships) with every passing day. When awkward situations arise, ask yourself: Am I the problem here? Is there any way I could have done – or handled – this better?
In fielding questions from the young wigs in the room, Adepetun was joined on stage by the Managing Partner of ACAS-Law, Mrs. Kemi Segun, who spoke on the work-life balance from the perspective of wives and mothers. First off, Segun said, a supportive spouse is an invaluable asset. She also added the following nuggets:
- Set work for your kids that challenges but does not overwhelm them, during your absence from home. Be part of their rites-of-passage events: graduation, school sports competitions, etc.
- Get rid of the ‘Employee’ entitlement mentality. Whether you dream is to set up your own firm someday, or rise within your present set-up, own your role in helping to build a firm into an institution.
- Cultivate your ‘Rainmaking’ abilities. Constantly hone your ability to win work for your firm.
In his closing remarks to bring the session to a close, the chairman of the NBA’s Lagos Branch CPD Committee, Tobenna Erojikwe expressed the gratitude of the Premier Bar to Mr. Adepetun and ACAS-Law for hosting the event. He spoke about lateness to events and made the point that it was unbecoming of lawyers not to keep to time. He encouraged the lawyers to focus on their vision without being overwhelmed as almost all of the ‘institutions’ in the legal field and other private sector endeavours in Nigeria where still alive, which, according to him, meant that it was not difficult to aspire.
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