Laura Alakija

Laura Alakija
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Nationality	Nigerian
Citizenship	Nigeria
Occupation	Lawyer

Laura Ashiripatonnme Karuri Alakija LLM, FCIArb (Laura Alakija) is a Nigerian lawyer, arbitrator and an ICC African Commission Member representing Nigeria.. In 2022, she was listed as one of Africa’s 30 Most Promising Arbitrators - awarded by the Africa Arbitration Academy. Two years prior (2020) she was listed as one of Africa’s 50 Most Promising Young Arbitration Practitioners by the Association of Young Arbitrators. She was also Managing Partner of top tier Nigerian law firm, Primera Africa Legal (formerly Sterling Partnership) from May 2020 to April 2023. She is currently on sabbatical from the Firm, serving a recent appointment as Senior Special Assistant on Programs and External Affairs in the office of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau OON, SAN.

Early Life and Education

Laura Alakija was born in Jos, Plateau State Nigeria to the Late Honourable Samuel Agamu Karuri (1952 - 2020) a prominent Northern-Nigerian business administrator and politician, and his wife Prof. (Dr.) Gloria S. Karuri, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Jos, Nigeria who started her career as US trained pharmacy technologist heading the production unit at the ECWA Central Pharmacy in Jos.

Laura Alakija was educated at Plateau Private Nursery School Jos (1984 – 1986) and ECWA Staff School Jos (1987 – 1992) and then proceeded to the Baptist High School, Jos from 1992 to 1998 from where she was admitted to study law at the University of Jos between 1999 – 2005. She was a pioneer Research Assistant / Assistant Manager at the Carnegie Foundation supported Online Legal Research Library instituted at the Faculty of Law of the University of Jos from May 2004 to June 2005. It was here that she cut her teeth in online legal research which would form the basis of careers in electronic legal research training and administration in later years and help her work as a young associate in law practice at a time Nigerian legal research was still predominantly paper oriented. She was Female Students’ Representative in the University of Jos’ Students Committee and Carnegie Corporation Partnership between September 2003 to June 2005 and was also elected Secretary of the Students’ Union Government at the University of Jos between 2001 to 2002.

Laura received an Honours Degree in Law from Nigeria’s University of Jos in 2005 and immediately thereafter proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos between 2005 – 2006 for her vocational training in law, serving out experiential training requirements at the Chambers of the Federal High Court, Kado and the law firm of Ologunorisha & Co both in Abuja in 2006, following which she was called to the Nigerian Bar on 7 November 2006. She later received a Master of Laws (LLM, Transnational Oil, Gas and Energy Law) from the University of Darby, UK in 2015.

Career

Leveraging experience gained at the Carnegie Foundation supported Online Legal Research Library University of Jos, Laura was appointed Manager, Electronic Resources at Odade Publishers Limited (LexisNexis’ representative In Nigeria) where she began her career in October 2006. She was responsible for negotiating and documenting technical and partnership agreements and oversaw training, set-up administration of online research libraries for courts, faculties of law and private law firms. She also provided legal/technical support for all digital resources and legal databases until she left in May 2010.

Laura joined Sterling Partnership which would later merge with the firm of Wali Uwais & Co and become Primera Africa Legal in June 2010, as Senior Associate in the Corporate and Commercial teams. She was promoted Managing Associate in October 2012 and then elevated to Partner in June 2016. She was Deputy Managing Partner of the Firm from August 2017 – April 2020 and then became Managing Partner from May 2020 to January 2023 before her sabbatical stint at the Nigerian Bar Association.

Laura has over 17 years’ experience in hospitality, project finance, technology, infrastructure, energy and natural resources and dispute resolution. She has served as a transaction adviser, negotiator, counsel, arbitrator and mediator in several transactions and disputes in Nigeria. She was part of the teams that drafted the recently published Africa Arbitration Academy’s Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (July 2022) and the widely celebrated Africa Arbitration Academy Protocol on Virtual Hearings in Africa (April 2020) – which won the Innovation in Arbitration at the Africa Arbitration Awards 2020. She was awarded the 40 under 40 Nigerian Rising Star Award by the Nigerian Legal Awards in 2019, Africa’s 50 Most Promising Young Arbitration Practitioners, 2020 – awarded by the Association of Young Arbitrators (AYA) and Africa’s 30 Most Promising Arbitrators 2022 - awarded by the Africa Arbitration Academy. Laura was recently announced Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association’s 2023 Annual General Conference Planning Committee. Training / Certifications

Training / Certifications

2021 – Africa Arbitration Academy, Diploma in International Arbitration

2021 – Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Admitted to Fellowship

2020 – Lagos Multidoor Courthouse, Accredited Mediator

2020 – ADRMCR Mediation Resources, Online Mediation Professional

2020 – DELOS’ ROAP 2020, Cross-Examination Course

2020 – DELOS’ ROAP 2020, Oral Advocacy Course

Professional Memberships and Positions

• Member – ICC Africa Commission
• Member – Advisory Board of the Lagos Court of Arbitration Young Arbitrators’ Network (LCA YAN)
• ICC YAF– Representative for Africa, Middle East and Turkey (2019-2021)
• Member – Association of Young Arbitrators (AYA)
• Member – Planning Committee of the annual Lagos Pre-Vis Moot
• Member – International Council for Commercial Arbitration’s network for young practitioners (Young ICCA)
• Member - Young Practitioners Group under the auspices of AIAC (YPG)
• Member - International Bar Association (IBA)
• Member - Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
• Member - NBA Section on Business Law (NBASBL)
• Member - NBASBL Committee on Travel, Tourism and Hospitality
• Member - NBASBL Committee on Energy, Natural Resources and Environment.

Awards & Recognitions

• Africa’s 30 Most Promising Arbitrators 2022 - awarded by the Africa Arbitration Academy.
• Africa’s 50 Most Promising Young Arbitration Practitioners, 2020 - awarded by the Association of Young Arbitrators.
• Nigeria’s 40 Under 40 Rising Stars Award 2019 – awarded by the Nigeria Legal Awards.

Laura is constantly invited to speak at conferences, workshops, and seminars across Nigeria and internationally. Some of her invited speaking engagements include:

• “The Validity of Investment Treaty Arbitration Agreements” (Presented at the Nalule Energy Conference on International Arbitration and Investor Protection in African Energy and Mining Sectors, 2023)
• Safeguarding Creative Works While Asserting Intellectual Property Right; Leverage On ADR Mechanisms (Presented at NCCDRC Conference on Creative Industry: Intellectual Property Protection and Dispute Resolution, 2023)
• “Arbitral Institutions - What do we expect from them, in order to improve the legitimacy of Arbitration?” (Presented at the Co-Chairs Circle Global Conference Brussels 2022).
• “Saving Mother Africa: Resolving Environmental Social and Governance Disputes” (presented to the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum, Lagos 2022).
• “Protecting Art through IP and Copyright Laws” (presented at the Artmiabo International Art Festival, Lagos 2022).
• “Developing Diversity in Arbitration” (presented at the Chartered Institute of Arbitration, Nigeria Branch Annual Conference, Ibadan 2021).
• “An Honest Conversation about Inter-Generational Cooperation” (presented at the virtual ICC Young Arbitrators Forum Global Conference, 2021).
• “The Support Provided by Tribunal Secretaries” (presented at the ICC Institute Training for Tribunal Secretaries, Nairobi 2021).
• “The Future of Dispute Settlement in the Oil and Gas Industry” (presented at the ICC Young Arbitrator’s Forum – International Arbitration Webinar, 2021).
• “Do All Roads Lead to Arbitration?” (Presented at the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum – International Arbitration Webinar, 2021).
• “Breaking the Mold in Arbitration” (presented at the Chartered Institute of Arbitration Kenya Branch Annual Virtual Arbitration Conference, 2020).
• “Role of Arbitral Institutions in Promotion of Arbitration in Africa” (presented at the Lagos Court of Arbitration ADR Summit, Lagos 2019).
• “Proliferation of Arbitral Institutions in Africa” (presented at the ICC Africa Regional Conference, Lagos 2019).
• “The Impact of the Singapore Convention on International Mediation” (presented at the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum Seminar, Accra-Ghana, October 2019).
• “Battle of Seats” (Oxford Style Debate, ICC YAF Global Conference, London 2019.
• “Regulatory Framework for Tourism in Nigeria: How Can This Be Made Easier for Investors?” (Presented at the Nigerian Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference, Lagos 2015.
• “Online Legal Research and Electronic Document Management” (presented at the Professional Development Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice Workshop held at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Lagos in June 2013).

Laura is much sought after as a trainer and facilitator for trainings in arbitration and corporate and commercial law practice generally. Some of the trainings she has facilitated include:

• Delta State Ministry of Justice (The Structure and Language of Contracts), Asaba 2022
• LACIAC-PwC Virtual Training on Cross-Examination 2021.
• ICC Young Arbitrator Forum & Ogun State Ministry of Justice ADR Training for Government Lawyers, Abeokuta 2021.
• ICC Africa Commission Webinar Series on Scrutiny of Awards, 2021.
• ICC Young Arbitrators Forum & Kano State Ministry of Justice ADR Training for Government Lawyers, Kano 2020.
• GIZ Regional Project Training on M&As in Nigeria: Aftermath of Covid-19, 2020.
• Centre for International ADR Webinar Series on Arbitration in the Oil and Gas Sector, 2020.
• BIAMC Arbitration Pathway Course (Lecture on Challenge of Arbitrators) 2020.
• Africa Arbitration Academy and IBA African Users Counsel Webinar on Conflict of Interest, 2020.
• Association of Young Arbitrator’s Webinar (50 Most Promising Your Arbitrators in Africa) 2020.
• Joint ICC Young Arbitrators Forum & Young Mediator Group Training on Arbitration, Lagos 2019.
• DAI MSME Training on ADR, Lagos 2019.

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