Akinwumi Reju also known as Akin, a Senior Partner (SP) at Topmarké Attorneys and one of the three founding partners of the firm, is the Counsel in charge of the Business Law and Real Estate team of the practice, however his specialization spans across areas of corporate, commercial, investments, franchise law, real estate, business immigration, and technology law.

Akin has over 31 years’ wealth of legal experience as a transactional lawyer having worked with multiple teams in technology and business development as an international business lawyer. After a stint of 3 years in litigation practice early in his career in Nigeria, he became an in-house lawyer to financial service companies notably the Corporate Trust Group and later on the Industrial & General Insurance Plc (IGI) Group where he rose to become Deputy Director Corporate and Legal Services and also the Ag. Company Secretary.

Akin gained valuable international corporate law experience leading the legal negotiating team in the privatization of two Government-owned insurance companies in Uganda and Rwanda. These projects were supervised by the World Bank and he served as Corporation Secretary and Legal Adviser to these companies. He commenced the process of preparing the Corporation for listing on the Uganda Stock Exchange. Akin was a member of the team that established Global Trust Bank of Uganda and served as the Legal Adviser upon its formation and approval by the Bank of Uganda, (BOU). He also participated as Team Lead in negotiations for joint venture arrangements between US and Canadian oil and gas firms and Nigerian EPC counterparts. His areas of expertise also include corporate compliance, mining law, and corporate secretarial practice.

Akin holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Benin and professional certification as a chartered secretary; he has worked with management and boards in legal advisory, corporate management, and corporate secretarial capacities. Akin also holds certifications in different areas of law including mining law, IP Rights and he is a member of several professional organizations.

An Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries of the UK, Akin was accredited by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICS) Canada as a member on merit in 2010. Akin also worked with Boards and Managements in corporate governance, audit, risk management, project management, business analysis, corporate compliance, and training.

Akin is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Ikeja branch, and the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC).

Memberships

• Member, Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC)
• Member, Canadian Bar Associations
• Member, International Bar Association
• Member, Institute of Corporate Directors, (ICD), of Canada
• Member, Institute of Chartered Secretaries, UK (ICS)
• Member, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)