Foluke Akinmoladun is the Managing Solicitor of Trizon Law Chambers, Nigeria. She is a lawyer, accountant, mediator and arbitrator. Her work experience covers both domestic and international commercial legal matters. She is also a Chartered Secretary and a Business Rescue and Insolvency practitioner(BRIPAN & INSOL) and has written several articles and is contributor to a number of books and journals.

 

As a certified arbitrator, mediator, mediator advocate and party representative, she has handled cases in maritime, finance and construction both on the domestic and international level. She has acted as arbitrator, arbitral registrar and party representative. Foluke is also a domestic and international trainer on arbitration, mediation, maritime law and business, and corporate governance.

 

Foluke is a member of a number of domestic and international Alternative Dispute Resolution bodies(ADR) and institutions such as the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR Paris (representing Nigeria),the Africa Users Council of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), ICC Nigeria (Arbitration Committee) and the International Law Association (Arbitration committee).

 

Foluke is a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) and the Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria (MAAN). Additionally, she is on the panel of neutrals of the LCIA, the NICArb Arbitration And Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre, the Lagos Multi-door Court house (LMDC), Lagos Court of Arbitration (Backlog elimination program), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre, the Lagos Multi-door Courthouse and the Property Dispute Management Centre.

 

She is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators(NICArb), a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, a Fellow of the Institute of Construction Arbitrators; Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK Nigeria Branch, and the International Law Association (Arbitration committee). She is an Associate of the Business Rescue and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria(BRIPAN), an Associate of the Standing Committee of Mediation Advocates(UK) and Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators(ICSAN) and a member of the Standing Conference on Mediator Advocates(UK).

 

She was a onetime Director General of the African Ship owners Association of Nigeria and was a member of the Presidential National Action Committee on Nigeria’s Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) (Transportation stream) where she was the co-lead. In this capacity, she led the conversations on Nigeria’s implementation with respect to transport and logistics and its effect on Nigeria’s domestic and international trade. She was also sponsored by the Ministry of Trade to do a training on trade titled: International Trade in Services and the AfCFTA: Implications for Nigeria IFC/World Bank/World Bank Group (MIGA) in December 2021.

 

She is a member of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association, Women in Maritime Africa (Nigeria) and Women in Maritime of West and Central Africa (WIMOWCA-under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation). She is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Arbitration and ADR (Nigeria Chapter). Foluke is a peer reviewer for ICSID (International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes-World Bank) journal coordinated by the University of Oxford.

 

She had the privilege of being a member of the first cohort of Future INSOL (Insolvency International) in Nigeria and is a member of the mentorship committee of BRIPAN. She was a one time  editor of FLAGSHIP magazine, a signature publication for ICSAN Lagos Chapter.

 

She has undertaken trainings on emotional intelligence for Mediators under Chantilly Mediation and Facilitation; arbitral secretary under CIArb UK(Nigeria branch) and the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators.

 

Foluke attended Obafemi Awolowo university for her first degree in Law and has a Masters in International and Comparative Law from the American University in Cairo, Cairo Egypt with specialisation in arbitration and foreign investment. She has an Advanced Diploma in Accounting Business, enroute being a Chartered Accountant (specialisation in Audit/Assurance and Advanced Financial Management) under Association of Chartered Certified Accountants UK. In addition, she has a Foundation Diploma in Shipping finance (with distinction) and an Advanced Diploma in Ship Sale and Purchase both from the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers UK.

 

She has been a member of Lawyers in energy network (formerly known as lawyers in oil and gas) for over five years. She has also made presentations on mediation in the oil and gas disputes to the Lawyers in Energy Network Nigeria and to the International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators Forum in Duala, Cameroon.

 

She has attended various trainings on construction arbitration including an introduction to the FIDIC rainbow suite under the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Cario Regional centre for International Commercial Arbitration, construction arbitration masterclass  training under the Lagos Court of Arbitration; and the Construction Law Summer school hosted in the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Her article on how IFRS 15 would affect the Nigerian construction industry with respect to presentations in the financial statements of such companies was published by the Construction Law journal of the IBA(International Bar Association) in 2019.

 

She has written articles on maritime; construction and arbitration and her articles have been published in both Nigerian and international publications such as the International Bar Association and the International Chamber of Commerce Dispute Resolution Bulletin, Business Law Academy: Nigeria Business Regulatory Review Volume 1 on Financial Services, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators(UK) Nigeria Branch Journal and La Abogada, the E-Newsletter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers.

 

As an active member of the Nigerian Bar Association, she has been one time treasurer and two time member of the executive committee of NBA Lagos branch, a member of the National Executive Council(NEC) NBA, one time secretary of the NBA Remuneration Committee, one time secretary of the NBA Sections Elections Appeal Committee and a former member of the NBA Electoral Reform Committee. She has been rapporteur and lead rapporteur in a number of domestic and international conferences including ICC Africa Regional Conferences and as Chief Rapporteur of the NBA Annual General Conference in 2019, 2020 and 2024.

 

Foluke was shortlisted under the distinguished Global Arbitration Review Award for 45 under 45 for Nigeria in July 2023. She obtained the prestigious Diploma in International Arbitration with the Africa Arbitration Academy 2023 and was the best overall coparticipant for the 2023 cohort. She is a recognised as a MIPAD Honouree (2020)- Most Influential People of African Descent Global Top 100 under the Law and Justice category and Arbitration/Litigation subcategory. She was also recognised by Courtroom Mail as one of the top 30 most influential female law firm founders in Africa 2020 and one of Courtroom Mail’s top100 female lawyers in Africa 2021. In December 2023 and 2024, she was honoured by Legal Initiative as one of the top 100 lawyers in Nigeria. In September of 2024, she was given the “Maritime Amazon” Award by Face of Maritime International, an organisation that celebrates the contribution of women in the maritime field.