Expert resume of Olasupo Shasore

Partner at ALP (African Law Practice)

Olasupo Shasore, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is a partner in the law firm of ALP (Africa Law Practice), a leading commercial law firm in Nigeria. He was until May 2011, the attorney general and commissioner for justice of Lagos state. His specialisations include arbitration, commercial litigation, maritime and shipping and commercial and business crime.

He has been engaged in the resolution of various commercial disputes by arbitration and has advised various clients in the oil and gas, power, and construction industries for many years. He was also consulted by the Lagos state government on reforms in the electric power sector. He was member/secretary of the Presidential petroleum revenue special taskforce and more recently, a resource person to the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals in connection with the Roadmap for the Growth and Development of the Nigerian Mining Industry.

Olasupo is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the immediate past chair of the arbitration and ADR committee of the Nigerian Bar Association’s section on business law. A former chairman of the Lagos State Law Reform Commission (until 2015) and former president of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) (until January 2016), Shasore chaired the committee on the reform of Nigeria’s national Arbitration Law and led the amendment of the LCA Rules (2013) to provide for "special measure" emergency arbitrators.

He is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration Africa User Group; the Panel of Recognised International Market Experts (PRIME) and its advisory committee; and International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA). He is also co-author of Commercial Arbitration Law and International Practice in Nigeria (LexisNexis 2012).

Shasore was a co-founder of Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria (MAAN) and its first VicePresident. He was also a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA). He is frequently selected as an arbitrator in both international and domestic disputes.

At the commercial bar, Olasupo Shasore SAN acted as counsel in a number of leading decisions of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the Court of Appeal in Nigeria. Some of the notable roles and decisions are:

- Lead Counsel – in the court of appeal decision LADGROUP v WEMA Bank & ors. (2004) 12 CLRN 54. Legal precedent for the authority of a Mortgage receiver to institute or defend actions on behalf of the (Mortgagor) company;

- Lead Counsel – in the Supreme Court Case NIGERIA ADVERTISING SERVICES LTD & Anor v UBA Plc & Anor (2005) 7 CLRN 36 where the court restated the extent of the mortgagors equity of redemption;

- Lead Counsel in the Supreme Court case MARITIME & GEN. ASS v OVERSEAS UNION (2006) 1 CLRN 8S; (2006) 4 NWLR (Pt.971) 622 deciding the law applicable in Nigeria for foreign judgment registration and enforcement proceedings;

- Lead Counsel – in the court of Appeal decision OLUWALOGBON & 3ors v Govt of The UNITED KINGDOM & Anor (2005) 7 CLRN 90; where he successfully defended the United Kingdom and where the court enunciated the applicable rules of sovereign immunity in Nigerian law;

- Lead Counsel to the Local Organizing Committee of Nigeria ’99 FIFA World Cup in shipping dispute with the BBC, Sony Corp.

- Counsel in OWADE v OMITOLA (1988) 2 NWLR PT. 77 (SUPREME COURT) and ALADEGBEMI v FASANMADE (1988) 3 NWLR PT. 81 (SUPREME COURT). At Ajumogobia & Okeke, Mr. Shasore currently leads the Commercial Litigation & Arbitration practice group and the Corporate Commercial & Financial Crime group. His recent leadership in the public sector and expertise in legal practice is as follows.