Managing Partner

Bunmi Awoyemi, Ph.D., is a seasoned international lawyer with multiple law practice licenses across a number of jurisdictions with a post-call experience of almost 25 years. Currently, he is the Managing Partner of M.O. Awoyemi & Co. As a political and economic analyst, he has contributed widely to discussions and analysis of political and economic issues affecting the African continent through the electronic, print, social media, and with organizations like the Voice of America, Channels Television, TV Continental to mention a few.

He was awarded his Bachelor’s degree in Law at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (former Ogun State University) in 1996 and later called to the Nigerian Bar in 1998. He was thereafter awarded his Masters and Doctoral degrees with a specific focus on Admiralty & Maritime Law at Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. His 630-page Doctoral dissertation has contributed immensely to legal knowledge in Admiralty, Maritime, and Oil Pollution Law. During his studies at the Univerity of Law of England & Wales (former College of Law of England & Wales) in 2001, Bunmi undertook additional legal studies focusing on Conveyancing, Financial Services, Professional Conduct and Accounts, and Civil Litigation and Procedure.

His academic career was further enriched during his work as Research Assistant to Professor Jonathan Nash and Professor Wendy Brown Scott at the Tulane Law School, New Orleans, U.S.A. He embarked on extensive research on the laws of all 50 American states to ascertain if Emissions Reduction Credits are property in law and whether their termination or revocation by a state government amounts to a taking. In addition, he conducted multi-disciplinary research in areas such as civil procedure, constitutional law, internet law, and the law of evidence.

His legal, litigation and transactional skills were honed further during his career at two of America’s biggest law firms – Baker and McKenzie LLP in Chicago and Holland and Knight LLP in New York City. At Holland & Knight, LLP, he practiced various areas of Admiralty and Maritime law, including Marine Insurance Law, Collision Law, Charter party, Carriage of goods by Sea Law, Maritime Personal Injury & Death Law, Towage Law, Salvage Law, Vessel Documentation Finance & Ship Mortgage Law, and Marine Pollution law. At Baker & Mckenzie, LLP, he practiced Arbitration Law, Commercial Law, Civil procedure Law, Trademark & Patent law, Bankruptcy Law, Secured Transactions Law, Civil rights Law, Environmental Law, Insurance Law, and Copyright Law.

At M.O. Awoyemi & Co. his practice of law has been focused on Banking Law, Corporate Finance Law, Project Finance Law, Property Law, Labor Law, Wills and Inheritance Law, Criminal Law, Oil & Gas Law, Energy Law, Commercial Law, Corporate law, International law, and Commercial Arbitration.

Bunmi has been involved in the legal aspects of Project Finance and Structured Finance for multi-million dollar and Green and Environmentally friendly projects in emerging markets; Oil & Gas blocks farm-in and farm-out arrangements; Alternative Energy projects such as Wind & Solar farms as well as bio-diesel & ethanol; Engineering Procurement and Construction Arrangements for Oil Refineries, LNG etc. He has also been involved in Technical and Financing Arrangements for Infrastructural Projects in emerging markets.

As a Corporate Finance Consultant to then Intercontinental Bank, PLC, between October 2006 and February 2007, M.O. Awoyemi & Co.’s advisory services under him, resulted in an offer of $179.9 million from a United States Bank for a South Eastern Nigerian Oil Refinery start-up.

M.O. Awoyemi & Co facilitated, structured and reviewed several loan offers and terms sheets for oil and gas companies from various investors in Asia, Europe and the United States of America. Under Bunmi’s leadership M.O. Awoyemi & Co. also structured, facilitated, and reviewed a loan offer of 200 million euros from an European Financial Institution for a cargo Airline in West Africa in 2007.

As Managing Partner of M.O. Awoyemi & Co., Bunmi litigated a mass torts case in American Federal Courts on behalf of 42 families in the Dana Airlines crash case in which 163 lives were lost on the 3rd of June 2012 at Iju Ishaga in Lagos, Nigeria. By 2015, he had obtained a record out of court settlement on behalf of 36 out of the 42 families.

He has also successfully defended some European publicly traded companies in Nigerian courts in several commercial litigation matters brought against them by Nigerian entities.

Bunmi holds the following Professional Licences;

• Attorney & Counselor at Law 1st Judicial Department, Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court –License No. 3892890 – 2000
• Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, Law Society of England & Wales – Licence No 352485 – 2002
• The United States Court of International Trade – 2000
• The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois – 2003
• Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria –1998
• The United States Supreme Court – 2003

He is a member of the following Legal Professional Bodies:

• The American Bar Association – Member: Environmental &Litigation Sections – 2000
• The Law Society of England & Wales – 2002
• The Nigerian Bar Association – 1998
• The Maritime Law Association of the United States – 2002

The awards he has received include:

• Tulane Law School’s Merit Based Scholarship
• Recipient of two CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for Obtaining the highest grade in two courses.
• Honored member of Strathmore’s Who’s Who Registry of outstanding professionals
• Nominated by the American Biographical Institute as “MAN OF THE YEAR 2004.”
• Listed in the prestigious International Biographical Centre’s “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century” Directory.

Bunmi’s Law Publications:

A. ‘Zippo Is Dying, Should It Be Dead?: The Exercise Of Personal Jurisdiction By U.S. Federal Courts Over Non-Domiciliary Defendants In Trademark Infringement Lawsuits Arising Out Of Cyberspace’ published in the 9th Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, 37 (2005) has been cited in the following 13 publications which include major law treatises, textbooks, casebooks, and journals:

1. Eric C. Hawkins, General Jurisdiction and Internet Contacts: What Role, if any, Should the Zippo Sliding Scale Test Play in the Analysis?, 74 Fordham L. Rev., 2371, 2383(2006), http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol74/iss4/29
2. Gregg M. Barbakoff, No Shoes, No Service? Why Cybersquatting Has Outgrown the International Shoe Framework for Personal Jurisdiction, and the Need for Legislative Reform, 6 SEVENTH CIRCUIT REV. 374, 393 (2011),at http://www.kentlaw.edu/7cr/v6-2/barbakoff.pdf
3. PROFESSOR ALLYSON W. HAYNES, The Short Arm of the Law: Simplifying Personal Jurisdiction Over Virtually Present Defendants, 64 U. Miami L. Rev. 133, 152 (2009-2010)
4. Dara Chevlin, Schemes, and Scams: Auction Fraud and the Culpability of Host Auction Web Sites, 18 Loy. Consumer.Rev. 223, 243-244 (2006)
5. Adam L. Brookman Trademark Law: Protection, Enforcement, and Licensing, Aspen Law & Business Publishers, 7-42.1(2005 Supplement)
6. Steve Hedley, The Law of Electronic Commerce and the Internet in the UK and Ireland, 78 Cavendish Publishing Ltd. (2006)
7. Professor Pablo Cortés, Online Dispute Resolution for Consumers in the European Union, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 233 (2011)
8. Larry L. Teply, Ralph U. Whitten, CIVIL PROCEDURE, Foundation Press, 48 (2009)
9. Ved P. Nanda, David K. Pansius, Litigation of international disputes in U.S. courts, 1-82, Volume 1, Thomson West Publisher (2008)
10. Brian E. Banner, Trademark infringement remedies, The ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, Bureau of National Affairs, (2008 cumulative supplement)
11. Professors Robert L. Felix and Ralph U. Whitten, AMERICAN CONFLICTS LAW, CASES & MATERIALS, Fourth Edition, LexisNexis Law School Publishing (2007 Supplement).
12. E. Thomas Sullivan and Toni M. Massaro, The Arc of Due Process in American Constitutional Law, Oxford University Press at 198-202 (2013).
13. Symeon C. Symeonides, Cross-Border Infringement of Personality Rights Through The Internet, A Resolution of the Institute of International Law, Brill Nijhoff publishing at 90 (2021).

B. An 816-page maritime law treatise titled “The Anatomy of United States’ Oil Pollution Act of 1990″, M.O. Awoyemi & Co. Independent Law Publishing; 1st edition (October 31, 2013).
C. A 100-page environmental law treatise titled “The Impact of Oil Pollution on the Environment of the Oil Producing Communities of Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of the Statutory and Regulatory Provisions in Nigeria”, M.O. Awoyemi & Co. Independent Law Publishing; 1st edition (October 16, 2014).