Africa Legal Podcast - Episode 11 - 'No Bar to Learning' with Michael Akintola Phillips

Michael Akintola Phillips is a tax and dispute resolution counsel for Hermon Law in Lagos. He specialises in commercial and real estate law, among others. In this conversation with Carol Campbell he talks about how an altercation between a soldier and his mother at an ATM led him to become a lawyer. “I was just 16-years old and, when my mother was arrested on false information, I went to the police station and argued her case. The police asked me if I was her lawyer when I wasn’t even out of school yet!” Michael goes on to discuss the importance of education and mentorship for young lawyers saying that the end of legal education should not be the end of studying for any lawyer. Nigerian lawyers are fortunate, he says, in that they are able to gain access into top universities across the world. The challenge, he points out, is always funding. “It is time,” he argues, “for the Nigerian Bar Association and the African Bar Association to put together a welfare package that gives easy access to scholarships.” This would enable many more Nigerian lawyers to full reach their potential. This conversation is an illuminating discussion on the journey of one young lawyer from university to a top Lagos law firm and will appeal to young African lawyers across the continent.

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