Practice Areas
SCOPE OF SERVICES
Corporate Governance
Our Managing Counsel was involved in the development and drafting of the Telecommunications Industry Governance Code which was sponsored by the Nigerian Communications Commission to address unethical corporate practices at board and management levels by licenced service providers. He has also been involved in auditing internal corporate governance during his career in the industry. Our firm has drafted Governance Codes for NGOs that provide services to foreign governments and multilateral agencies and also renders company secretarial services to corporate bodies.
PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Our Managing Counsel was a member of the Telecommunications Sector Reform Implementation Committee that conceived and drafted Nigeria’s National Telecommunications Policy of 2000; the Presidential Committee that drafted the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) as well as of the Expert Review Committee on the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, 2019. He was also actively involved in the conception and drafting of the extant governing legislation for the telecommunications industry, the Nigeria Communications Act of 2003. We have an active practice in this area rendering advisory to foreign governments, multilateral agencies, state governments, and local and international industry interest groups among others. In this regard, we provided consultancy on the Projects to Foster Effective Right of Way (ROW) Administration and Issuance of Planning Permits for Masts and Towers in Nigeria and on the Adequacy of Digital Inclusion Policies, Laws and Regulations in a Covid-19 Context in Nigeria which were sponsored by foreign government agencies. Also, our firm has advised a state government on a law that facilitated the implementation of the RoW recommendation.
Regulatory Affairs
We understand regulatory affairs, including compliance, from a regulator’s position and also appreciate the concerns and aspirations of the regulated entities from risk and opportunity management perspectives. This unique competency draws from our Managing Counsel’s work experience in both regulator’s and service provider segments of the telecommunications industry as well as his engagement in their regulation-making roles. Our firm is regularly sought out by corporations in the ICT sector for advice and our clients in this practice area include a pan-African data services provider and an international traffic carrier. Others include international telecommunication consultancy firms and the industry regulator who has retained our services for the development and drafting of regulatory instruments.
COMMERCIAL
A business needs the benefit of legal advisories for its operations. At Greenfields Law, we provide bespoke advisory services to commercial entities from start-up to thriving and/or life-end stages with a view to ensuring efficiency and cost effectiveness for the client. Our service cover issuance of legal opinions, negotiation of transactions, drafting and administration of transaction agreements.
Communications and Technology
We have extensive experience of negotiating communications industry-centric transactions and drafting their governing agreements. Examples of such overseen transactions and agreements include network equipment purchase, domestic and international interconnection, roaming, co-location, infrastructure sharing and site acquisition. We apply this knowledge to efficiently manage technology transactions on behalf of our clients.
Corporate Finance
We are involved in the facilitation, negotiation and drafting of corporate finance transactions. This practice area focuses primarily on the ICT sector presently. In this regard, we have successfully “hand-held” a start-up Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) operator towards the funding of its service roll out plans.
Real Estate
We have built up a strong network in every relevant stakeholder segment of the real estate sector with emphasis on the Lekki-Epe corridor which is the fastest developing part of Lagos. We are therefore able to provide the required legal and support services for our clients who are involved in various real estate transactions.
Stakeholder Management
Management and engagement of stakeholders is very essential to effective corporate relations and we have a very clear understanding of these on account of the extensive experience of our Managing Counsel from managing sector-specific and industry-transcending local and international individual, corporate and government influences as an executive in a multinational company. Among our clients in this practice area are a leading multinational technology company and a technology consultancy on whose behalf we are currently leading engagements with telecommunications and broadcasting industry stakeholders towards the universal adoption of a particular service technology. We have also worked with international industry trade associations in this regard.
sports
As the Nigerian sports industry becomes more professional and cross-border transactions involving sports events and athletes increase, the need for attendant legal and professional support services is equally growing. We are carving a niche for ourselves in this area of practice and our services have been retained by clients in various sports stakeholder segments – sportspreneurs, football clubs, intermediaries, players and League Management Body – based on the demonstrated expertise of our Managing Counsel who is a football intermediary duly licensed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) under the statutes of Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). We advised, reviewed and managed the terms of contract leading to the franchise for the establishment of the Olympique du Marseille Football Academy in Nigeria as well as on a transaction involving the acquisition of interests in a European football club by a Nigerian investor. Our firm has also advised a sports-media company, sports events management organization and clubs on the various aspects of their operations. We also successfully initiated dispute resolution with European Football Associations and the FIFA on behalf of an intermediary-client as well as reviewed, drafted and tracked complex players, representation and collaboration contracts.
Dispute Resolution and Litigation
Relative to litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been acknowledged as an effective tool for the sustenance of commercial and social relations on account of the ease with which disagreements are resolved. In addition to judicial institutions, regulatory and administrative bodies have equally embraced the ADR approach in addressing disputes within the sphere of their operations. We have a keen interest in this area and have been retained by Nigeria’s .NG Domain Name administrator as an expert for the resolution of disputes between its registration agents. We also engage in litigation that arise in our other practice areas.