Legal Magnates International Foundation (the “LMIF”) is the parent body of the Legal Magnates & Company (the “LMC”). The LMC is an organization for law students who are determined to be exceptionally successful in the legal profession by learning from the work and practice of leading members of the bar and the bench, courts, institutions and organisations within and outside Nigeria. Established in 2003 at the Faculty of Law, Olabisi Onabanjo University (“OOU”), the LMC has provided the necessary intellectual and academic platforms to hundreds of OOU law students many of whom are now practising law with some of the best law firms and other reputable institutions in Nigeria and around the world. Apart from OOU, the LMC now has a branch at the Faculty of Law, Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Considering the immense benefits and opportunities that the LMC affords its members, a decision was made in late 2016 to formally incorporate the lawyers’ body of the LMC. Thus, the LMIF was incorporated on February 8, 2017, as a vehicle for coordinating and supervising the activities of the LMC.

Vision/Mission

Legal Magnates International Foundation is committed to the full realization of the intellectual and career development and well-being of its members. The Foundation also aims to mentor and guide law students on their journey to the bar. It is our mission to nurture and develop a breed of highly successful law students who will in turn grow into some of the finest lawyers in the profession. We intend to maximize the use of constant exposure and practice to achieve our goal knowing that law as a discipline can neither be fully studied nor understood in abstract. Some of the aims and objectives of the Foundation are:

1. to oversee and supervise, on the campuses of Nigerian Universities, the activities and programs of the Legal Magnates & Company which is the student arm of the Legal Magnates International Foundation;

2. committing to the physical, academic, intellectual and career well-being of its members as well as members of the Legal Magnates & Company;

3. to establish chapters of the Legal Magnates & Company in Nigerian universities;

4. to organize lectures and seminars in Nigerian universities for the purposes of furthering the vision and objectives of the Legal Magnates & Company;

5. to plan, execute, coordinate, monitor and supervise the organization of the annual Legal Summit of the Legal Magnates & Company in conjunction with the university chapters of the Legal Magnates & Company; and

6. to raise and solicit funds and other properties for the execution of its vision, objectives and activities.

Legal Magnates & Company

Legal Magnates & Company was established on June 30, 2003, as a student organization. It started at the Faculty of Law, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria. Legal Magnates & Company aims to prepare law students for the future through clinical approaches to the learning of the law. As a student group, it has organised several programs within and outside the university. In the course of its activities, it has impressed and attracted outstanding lawyers and judges some of whom have been inducted as its patrons and advisers. Notable amongst these personalities are the erudite retired justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice George Adesola Oguntade, CFR, CON; the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State, Mr. Akin Osinbajo, SAN and the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State, Mr. Ade Ipaye.

The Legal Magnates & Company has inspired the formation of two other organizations in Nigeria and Canada: The Legal Magnates International Limited which is a purely business enterprise, and the Legal Magnates International Foundation which is a not-for-profit organization. The Legal Magnates International Limited was incorporated in 2007 in Nigeria and 2018 in Canada while the Legal Magnates International Foundation was incorporated as a Trustee in Nigeria in 2017.

Legal Magnates International Foundation is the lawyers’ body of the Legal Magnates & Company. In other words, as soon as a member of the Legal Magnates & Company becomes a lawyer, and subject to other conditions contained in the Constitution of the Legal Magnates & Company OOU (2004), such lawyer is deemed to be a member of the Foundation,

One of our objectives is to establish the student arm of our organization – the Legal Magnates & Company – in all the faculties of law of Nigerian universities and around the world. We seek qualified law students to join us in establishing a chapter of the Legal Magnates & Company in their university. If you are interested in becoming the pioneer Lord Advocate of the Legal Magnates & Company in your school, please send your resume and cover letter addressing the requirements below to info@legalmagnatesfoundation.org and/or info@legalmagnates.com. To be appointed the Lord Advocate, you must:

1. be in the penultimate year of your legal studies. Law students who are not in their penultimate year may also be considered where circumstances demand;

2. have attained an academic grade point average of at least second-class upper division;

3. have excellent speaking and writing skills, and

4. be a team player but also capable of working independently. You must have excellent organizational skills, a positive attitude, and the ability to achieve your goals despite all odds.

To an average law student, the advantages of joining the Legal Magnates & Company are numerous, and they can be both immediate and long-term. Legal Magnates & Company provides an opportunity for academic excellence through its Operation 4.5 (OP45) program. The chamber arm of the group known as Amici Curiae develops the advocacy skills of law students. Students also get to learn the art of client representation right from the university. This inevitably leads to strong mastery of the rules and procedure of courts in civil and criminal matters. Legal Magnates & Company provides networking opportunities for law students. Our students meet many prominent members of the bar and bench through interactive sessions that the Legal Magnates & Company organizes. The relationships created by the Legal Magnates & Company between member law students and eminent legal icons have assisted many members to secure fulfilling employment and internship opportunities in foremost law firms upon graduation. In addition, members of the Legal Magnates & Company pay reduced fees for most of the programs organized by us. There is also nothing as interesting as knowing that you have the contact phone numbers and details of some influential members of the bar and bench whom you have met at various programs organized by us or any chapter of the Legal Magnates & Company some of whom you could speak with at anytime with just a dial away!