Mofesomo is the Firm’s Managing Counsel and overall head of the practice head. Before setting up Twelve Legal, Mofesomo spent time practicing first at one of Nigeria’s most notable full-service law firms and then at a foremost dispute resolution law firm, where he worked on and developed invaluable expertise in both transactional and disputes work, having participated in several ground-breaking matters of considerable value and complexities.
Mofesomo has developed a fast-growing reputation in Nigeria as a highly-skilled advocate in commercial arbitration and litigation matters. He represents clients in a wide range of disputes concerning the areas of banking, commercial crime, contracts, corporate insolvency, employment, enforcement of foreign judgments and awards, marine and general insurance, power, securities, shipping, and international trade and oil and gas. He advises clients on matters relating to the legal aspects of their entry into the Nigerian market or ongoing operations in the country, regulatory issues, corporate structure, and governance. Some notable recent matters in which Mofesomo has acted include:
- Representing an indigenous oil and gas company in an over N200 Million arbitration claim against its Hull and Machinery insurer, in respect of damage suffered by the company's vessel in the course of its voyage to Nigeria.
- Representing a leading Nigerian payments technology company in a London ICC arbitration brought by a foreign software development company in respect of a Software Development Agreement.
- Advising one of Nigeria's largest indigenous oil companies in respect of negotiations with its lenders and representing the company in a civil claim in respect of credit facilities worth over N3 Billion.
- Representing one of Nigeria's oldest commercial banks, in a high value dispute worth over £2 Billion between the bank and a petroleum industry investor, which arose from proposed investments in the Nigerian Upstream petroleum sector.
- Advising an indigenous joint venture company in its bid to acquire upstream petroleum assets worth over $1 Billion from an international oil company, in the course of its assets divestment process. in Nigeria.
- Advising a leading multinational fast-moving consumer goods company in respect of the acquisition of industrial real estate valued at over N1.5 Billion as part of the company’s business expansion.
- Representing an indigenous dredging company in a N200 Million arbitration claim against its counterparty, in respect of a dredging services agreement.
- Advising an indigenous upstream petroleum company in an arbitration claim by its financiers in respect of the multimillion-dollar financing of the acquisition of Nigerian oil and gas assets.
- Representing an indigenous upstream petroleum company in a dispute with a multinational joint venture, arising from the joint venture's divestment of its participating interest in an Oil Mining Lease worth over $400 Million.
- Representing several clients in white collar criminal defence matters in prosecutions brought by different prosecutorial agencies in Nigeria.
- Leading the transaction and negotiation team of a Nigerian oil and gas company concerning the sale of a jack-up rig.
- Leading the transaction and negotiation team of a Nigerian investment company in relation to the acquisition of several luxury flats in a highbrow area of Lagos State.
Education
- University of Leeds – LLB (Hons)
- Nigerian Law School – BL
- University of Bristol – LLM (Commercial Law)
- Institute of Maritime Law, University of Southampton
Professional Memberships and Affiliations
Mofesomo is a member of several professional bodies such as the:
- Nigerian Bar Association
- International Council for Commercial Arbitration
- Institute for Transnational Arbitration
- Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
- International Law Association, where he presently serves as the Chairman of the Young Members Committee and member of the Committee on International Arbitration of the Nigerian Branch
- Panel of Neutrals of the Nigerian Communications Commission.