About Oando

Legal Services

The Legal Services Department is wholly staffed by qualified legal practitioners who have been called to the Nigerian Bar as Solicitors and Advocates of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Before a lawyer can be called to the Bar, he/she must have concluded training as a lawyer from an accredited Faculty of law of a Nigerian or foreign university.

To work in the Department, he/she must have had at least a minimum of between 2-4 years of legal work experience either from a reputable law firm or a legal department of a reputable structured business environment. He/she must exhibit a good grasp of law relating to the business; strong verbal and writing skills; strong legal documentation skills; sound knowledge of domestic, regional and international laws and regulations applicable to the Group’s businesses and the ability to perform general legal research/analysis as well as the ability to plan and execute complex assignments and multi-task under pressure.

A lawyer in the Legal Services Department is primarily responsible for processing legal transactions in consonant with the overall corporate philosophy and strategic direction of the Group. This is specifically executed by the provision of day-to-day legal and project management support on various strategic transactions and reliable legal advice on operational needs of the various business entities and units in the Group. It involves the preparation, drafting, review and negotiations of different forms of legal Agreements, identifying and working with external Solicitors to manage the Group’s legal obligations in complying with regulatory agencies, commercial or financial requirements, initiating, protecting as well as defending the Group in legal and/or arbitral proceedings.

The Department is also directly responsible for the effective management of the group’s insurable programmes. This it does by identifying the inherent risks in the businesses and ensuring that adequate covers are placed over all assets, human and material. The Department closely monitors the state of these assets and vigorously pursues claims arising from these insured risks in a timely manner to ensure full indemnity for the Group and negotiating competitive rates on these policies. The Department also periodically creates awareness on the impact of these policies on staff and the various businesses.

There is a dedicated liaison officer who has been assigned to each company/unit within the Group for prompt and effective response to legal needs and support.

Apart from the weekly departmental meeting where routine review and updates on transactional issues are discussed, there are periodic retreats where the Department carries out continuing legal education and brainstorm on better methods to improving present duties by comparative analyses with international best practices. This ensures that the sound opinions being delivered by the Department remain fresh and practical whilst being cost-effective in line with the Department's Objective.

Objective

The Legal Services Department’s primary objective is to proactively provide cost-effective and efficient legal services support to and manage the inherent risks in the Group’s businesses.

Scope of Overview

- Proffering Legal Advise
- Preparation of Legal Opinions
- Negotiation of terms and conditions of transaction
- Drafting of legal Agreements
- Review of Agreements
- Perfection/Registration of executed Agreements
- Attending court/Arbitral proceedings
- Preparation of witnesses to testify on behalf of the Company in legal/arbitral proceedings
- Provision of adequate insurance covers for the Group’s Assets and businesses
- Provision of M&A support services
- Assist in the preparation of bid documents
- Attending business meetings with the various entities within the Group and external customers