B&I admits Seyi Bella into firm’s partnership

Top corporate commercial law firm, Banwo & Ighodalo recently announced the admission of a key member of its Corporate, Securities & Finance Practice, Seyi Bella into the firm’s partnership.

Speaking about this development, which took effect on January 8th, 2018, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of B&I, Kemi Ajayi stated that Bella’s entry into partnership would further strengthen the Firm’s service offerings across various practice areas, as this latest addition brings the total number of partners to 12. 

“Having grown through the Firm, Seyi’s profile is entirely autochthonous and we are confident of her capabilities in providing the highest quality of legal services that our clients have come to expect from B&I,” she said.

Currently the youngest member of the partnership, Seyi’s entry brings the partnership’s gender mix to 50/50. She is incredibly hard working, smart, adroit and reliable, and is extremely valuable to the Firm and its clients.

Seyi first interned at the Firm as a law student in 2004 and formally joined the Firm as a junior associate in 2006. She has extensive experience and provides advice on a broad range of transactions in Finance generally – including Project Finance, Corporate Finance – and M&A. Her core focus is on Banking and Secured Lending; and she advises local and international financial institutions, corporate clients and government agencies on local and cross border financing transactions, including diverse multi-currency deals.

Seyi comes with a Bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Lagos (2005) and a Master’s degree from the Harvard Law School (2008).

Recognised yearly for practice and business excellence by the world’s leading rating and ranking guides/directories, such as IFLR1000, Chambers Global, Euromoney, Who’s Who Legal, Legal 500 and others; Banwo & Ighodalo continues to receive Tier 1 ranking in several practice areas not just in Nigeria but internationally. In 2013, the firm was ranked among the 50 fastest growing Nigerian Enterprises.

Established in 1991, B&I has over 60 lawyers and 12 partners; with a fair promotion of gender parity in the firm’s workforce.

With the ongoing conversation for gender equality and greater diversity in the workplace, market analysts applaud B&I’s approach as a welcome development in Nigeria’s legal industry. It is hoped that 2018 would see the gender disparity in legal market gradually close.

A recent report by McKinsey Global Institute finds that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 if the gender gap is narrowed.