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Former NBA president and Ondo Attorney-General founded Wole Olanipekun & Co. in 1980 and remains one of Nigeria's most instructed appellate advocates.
Chief Wole Olanipekun OFR CFR SAN marked 50 years at the Nigerian Bar in August 2026, with tributes from colleagues including Chief Emeka Ozoani SAN, former chairman of the NBA National Welfare Committee.
Career
Chief Olanipekun established Wole Olanipekun & Co. in 1980. He served as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Ondo State from 1991 to 1992 and as President of the Nigerian Bar Association from 2002 to 2004, and is a Life Bencher.
Market significance
Chief Olanipekun’s chambers has appeared in many of the most significant constitutional, electoral and commercial appeals of the past three decades, including presidential and governorship election petitions. His practice illustrates the continuing importance of the appellate advocate in Nigeria’s legal market, where final outcomes in high-value disputes are frequently decided at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. It also reflects the model of the founder-led chambers, whose succession planning has become a live question as leading advocates of his generation reach half a century in practice.
Law firm management forums, such as the Association of Law Firm Administrators Nigeria’s managing partner roundtable in September 2026, have made governance and succession a central theme for this reason.
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