Biography: Arbitration

Yemi is the senior partner at Strachan Partners, a leading commercial law firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, and with substantial practice across the nation. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1984 and conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2003.

He received his LLM degree from the University of London in 1984 and between 1984 and 1990 was counsel in the leading chambers of Jon B Majiyagbe SAN, in Kano, Nigeria. He moved to Lagos in 1990 to establish the Lagos practice of that firm and in 1994 led the founding of Strachan Partners.

Yemi is the author of several scholarly papers and is engaged as leading counsel in ongoing major and high-profile commercial and public policy litigation across the courts of Nigeria. He has acted as either counsel or arbitrator in several domestic and international commercial arbitrations in the maritime, petroleum and construction industries.

Amongst his notable recent cases include billion-dollar litigations in telecommunications (Motophone v Nigerian Communications Commission at the Supreme court of Nigeria, and a series of litigations and ICC arbitrations concerning ownership and operation of Nigeria's second GSM telephone franchise Celtel/Zain), as well as the South Atlantic Petroleum v Minister of Petroleum litigation concerning the wrongful seizure of 50 per cent of the billion-dollar OPL 242 petroleum licence. He currently represents LG Electronics of Korea in ongoing litigation and has chaired or sat as co-arbitrator in a number of arbitrations across construction, petroleum and banking matters. He has advised the international consortium in the billion-dollar reclamation and development of Eko Atlantic City, Lagos and in transactions with Lagos state government, as well as acting on other major real estate developments in Abuja and also representing investors in ongoing farming negotiations for Nigerian "marginal oilfields" and petroleum bidding rounds.

In 1988 he was appointed a notary public for Nigeria and in 1996 a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of England (FCIArb). He is an approved tutor and examiner for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK (Nigeria) branch. He is an honorary fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, and a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitration Association.

In the public sphere, he is a member of the panel of neutrals of the Lagos State Multi-Door Court House, Lagos; legal assessor, Medical & Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (2000-2005); member, board of trustees of Communicating for Change; editorial consultant, Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; member, telecom sector reform implementation committee for the National Council on Privatization (2000-02); chairman, subcommittee on legal and regulatory matters which was responsible for drafting the Telecommunications Law 2003; member, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee; member, the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators; member, Nigerian Communications Commission panel of neutrals; secretary, Parish Church Council, Anglican Church on the Peninsula; chairman, Lagos State Arbitration Law Reform Committee 2007/2008; and foundation board member, Lagos Court of Arbitration.

Biography: Commercial Litigation

Yemi Candide-Johnson is the senior partner at Strachan Partners, a leading commercial law firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, and with substantial practice across the nation. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1984 and conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2003.

He received his LLM degree from the University of London in 1984 and between 1984 and 1990 was counsel in the leading chambers of Jon B Majiyagbe SAN, in Kano, Nigeria. He moved to Lagos in 1990 to establish the Lagos practice of that firm and in 1994 led the founding of Strachan Partners.

Yemi is the author of several scholarly papers and is engaged as leading counsel in ongoing major and high profile commercial and public policy litigation across the courts of Nigeria. He has acted as either counsel or arbitrator in several domestic and international commercial arbitrations in the maritime, petroleum and construction industries.

His notable recent cases include billion-dollar litigations in telecommunications (Motophone v Nigerian Communications Commission at the Supreme court of Nigeria, and a series of litigations and ICC arbitrations concerning ownership and operation of Nigeria's second GSM telephone franchise Celtel/Zain), as well as the South Atlantic Petroleum v Minister of Petroleum litigation concerning the wrongful seizure of 50 per cent of the billion- dollar OPL 242 petroleum licence. He currently represents LG Electronics of Korea in ongoing litigation and has chaired or sat as co-arbitrator in a number of arbitrations across construction, petroleum and banking matters. He has advised the international consortium in the billion-dollar reclamation and development of Eko Atlantic City, Lagos and in transactions with Lagos state government, as well as acting on other major real estate developments in Abuja and also representing investors in ongoing farming negotiations for Nigerian "marginal oilfields" and petroleum bidding rounds.

In 1988 he was appointed a notary public for Nigeria and in 1996 a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of England (FCIArb). He is now an approved tutor and examiner for the UK Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is an honorary fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, and a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitration Association.

In the public sphere, he is the chairman section on business law of the Nigerian Bar Association, member of the general counsel of the Bar, he is a member of the panel of neutrals for Lagos State Multi-door Court House, Lagos; legal assessor, Medical & Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (2000-05); member, board of trustees of Communicating for Change; editorial consultant, Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; member, telecom sector reform implementation committee for the National Council on Privatization (2000-02); chairman, subcommittee on legal and regulatory matters which was responsible for drafting the Telecommunications Law 2003; member, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee 2006-2010; member the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators; member, Nigerian Communications Commission panel of neutrals; secretary, Parish Church Council, Anglican Church on the Peninsula; chairman, Lagos State Arbitration Law Reform Committee 2007/2008; and foundation board member, Lagos Court of Arbitration, member, board of directors of LEAP Africa; chairman, NBA section on business law.

Biography: Shipping & Maritime

Yemi is the senior partner at Strachan Partners, a leading commercial law firm based in Lagos, Nigeria, and with substantial practice across the nation. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1984 and conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2003.

He received his LLM degree from the University of London in 1984 and between 1984 and 1990 was counsel in the leading chambers of Jon B Majiyagbe SAN, in Kano, Nigeria. He moved to Lagos in 1990 to establish the Lagos practice of that firm and in 1994 led the founding of Strachan Partners.

Yemi is the author of several scholarly papers and is engaged as leading counsel in ongoing major and high-profile commercial and public policy litigation across the courts of Nigeria. He has acted as either counsel or arbitrator in several domestic and international commercial arbitrations in the maritime, petroleum and construction industries.

Amongst his notable recent cases include billion-dollar litigations in telecommunications (Motophone v Nigerian Communications Commission at the Supreme court of Nigeria, and a series of litigations and ICC arbitrations concerning ownership and operation of Nigeria's second GSM telephone franchise Celtel/Zain), as well as the South Atlantic Petroleum v Minister of Petroleum litigation concerning the wrongful seizure of 50 per cent of the billion-dollar OPL 242 petroleum licence. He currently represents LG Electronics of Korea in ongoing litigation and has chaired or sat as co-arbitrator in a number of arbitrations across construction, petroleum and banking matters. He has advised the international consortium in the billion-dollar reclamation and development of Eko Atlantic City, Lagos and in transactions with Lagos state government, as well as acting on other major real estate developments in Abuja and also representing investors in ongoing farming negotiations for Nigerian 'marginal oilfields' and petroleum bidding rounds.

In 1988 he was appointed a notary public for Nigeria and in 1996 a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators of England (FCIArb). He is an approved tutor and examiner for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK (Nigeria) branch. He is an honorary fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies in Salzburg, Austria, and a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitration Association.

In the public sphere, he is a member of the panel of neutrals of the Lagos State Multi-Door Court House, Lagos; legal assessor, Medical & Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (2000-2005); member, board of trustees of Communicating for Change; editorial consultant, Judgments of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; member, telecom sector reform implementation committee for the National Council on Privatization (2000-02); chairman, subcommittee on legal and regulatory matters which was responsible for drafting the Telecommunications Law 2003; member, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee; member, the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators; member, Nigerian Communications Commission panel of neutrals; secretary, Parish Church Council, Anglican Church on the Peninsula; chairman, Lagos State Arbitration Law Reform Committee 2007/2008; and foundation board member, Lagos Court of Arbitration.