Hermon Legal Practitioners (HERMON) evolved in the year 2000 from the stellar practice of Osinbajo, Kukoyi and Adokpaye, which began in 1987.
Recognised for our strong focus as a full-service Corporate Commercial Law Firm, which has demonstrated specialist knowledge, skill and experience over time in various areas of legal practice, in the areas of Labour and Employment Law, taxation, energy and natural resources as well as other areas of legal practice; we are suitably positioned to provide full legal security for local and international business interests.
HERMON is currently structured as a mid-sized law firm with principal operations in the commercial city of Lagos, and operations in other parts of the country, most notably Abuja, Enugu and Port-Harcourt.
HERMON has consistently provided legal advisory and support services to several medium and mega local and multinational clients on some of the most complex legal issues. At HERMON, we combine the best of local and global expertise to deliver cutting-edge legal services. Our growing clientele cuts across different industries and business sectors including, but not limited to, Oil and Gas, FMCG, Manufacturing, Power Sector, Hospitality, Agriculture, Construction, Banking, Insurance, Real Estate, Maritime, Telecommunications, Outsourcing and Human Capital provider consultants. Our Clientele encompasses public and private multinational companies, foreign companies, their local subsidiaries and affiliates, state-owned corporations, banks and other financial institutions, SMEs, and Private Nigerian Companies.
Our team of Lawyers enjoy a versatile exposure to extensive commercial corporate and international practice. HERMON is maximally enabled to offer a wide range of professional services, which meet varied requirements at the maximum standard possible. Our existence is to satisfy the needs of our clients, which is in itself diversified.
Since its inception, HERMON has placed consistent emphasis on the acquisition of specialist knowledge, experience and skills in our chosen area of practice. Our lawyers are therefore oriented and continuously motivated towards the individual development of their full professional potential. This enables our clients to take beneficial advantage of these imbibed skills.
The activities of the firm are enhanced by a crop of dedicated and competent legal and paralegals, a well-stocked and ever-expanding library, and up-to-date office automation, communication and other modern office support equipment and needed facilities.
Alternative Dispute Resolution has become the dispute resolution mechanism of choice for many sophisticated international and local clients operating in Lagos, Abuja and other parts of Nigeria. Due to several issues with the litigation process in Lagos, a lot of corporations, institutions and other Portfolio companies choose to veer away from (Lagos) courtroom litigation. Companies now have a deep preference for alternative dispute resolution over conventional courtroom practice.
For these set of business operators, alternative dispute resolution is more ideal over litigation practice so that they can circumvent the Courts which are fraught with administrative bottlenecks, administrative delays, Process uncertainties and a special knack for marathon legal tussles they would have to expend a lot of time on, with little results achieved.
Many of our local and international clients prefer alternative dispute resolution mechanisms over Courtroom litigation because of its attendant uncertainties, marathon nature, and delays that undermine the commercial litigation process. An increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in various areas of the Nigerian business-commercial sector has also led to a stronger demand for ADR to ensure speedy resolution of commercial disputes.
We create special ADR clauses in contractual documents and actively advise on the various issues pertaining to alternative dispute resolution to aid our local and international clients who have no interest in courtroom litigation. We pride ourselves on having deep commercial knowledge of the specific workings of our local and international clients so that we are better able to routinely advise on the best Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism that will be suited for each case/transaction.
Many businesses prefer commercial arbitration as their default dispute resolution mechanism in the event of a commercial dispute with their business counterparts, particularly in disputes regarding cross-border commercial transactions. Our dispute resolution team advises our clients on all aspects of Nigerian Arbitration Law and practice, from the drafting of commercial arbitration clauses/agreements, to the arbitration hearings in whatever seat of arbitration chosen by the parties.
Hermon Legal Practitioners is experienced in both local and international arbitration, and we handle our clients’ Lagos commercial arbitration matters alongside their commercial arbitration matters in foreign arbitration seats. We are also hands-on to help our arbitration clients post arbitral award to ensure that issues pertaining to compliance and enforcement are handled perfectly so they can easily proceed with their transactions.
Our Lagos arbitration practice is focused on taking these key approaches to issues relating to the handling of our clients’ arbitration matters: analyze the arbitration contract/clauses giving rise to the arbitration, analyzing key issues that is the bane of contention between both sides, then crafting the best strategy that will be used to handle the matter at Lagos Arbitration tribunals or wherever else the seat of commercial arbitration is, both locally and internationally.
Mediation, like commercial arbitration, is fast becoming one of the preferred dispute resolution mechanisms employed by corporations and high-flying conglomerates in resolving their commercial disputes.
Mediation involves a neutral third party, called the “Mediator” whose job is to help disputing parties arrive at an amicable settlement of their dispute. His involvement is focused on the facilitation of negotiations and resolution by the parties in a way that is suited to the interest of both parties.
Hermon Legal Practitioners’ Lagos dispute resolution team takes active involvement in mediating our clients’ commercial disputes and we have advised and supported our clients who adopt third-party Mediation as their preferred dispute resolution method for resolving their commercial disputes.
Hermon Legal Practitioners’ corporate and commercial law practice group provides extensive business and legal advisory services to institutional and private clients from our Lagos Offices. We help our esteemed clients to navigate Nigeria’s complex commercial world.
Business entities and sophisticated business people understand that they need the services of seasoned lawyers to help them achieve their business objectives. They need lawyers and law firms that adequately understand their special legal needs and the needs of their businesses so they can operate at optimum level.
While we offer a full range of corporate and commercial law services for the success of our clients, Hermon Legal Practitioners also focus on other sub-practices of our corporate practice that are of integral importance to the success of our clients’ business enterprises. We draw upon a multi-dimensional understanding of these practice groups to provide a multi-faceted capacity to delve into our clients’ businesses. This helps us to leverage our combined expertise to ensure we provide cost-effective solutions that aims only at actively helping our clients succeed.
One of the core competencies of our lawyers is Employment and Industrial Relations. We routinely advise our clients on matters relating to employment of staff, generating employment and end-of-employment contract documentation and Non-Disclosure Agreements, negotiating the employment and retainer of senior-level staff members, settling employment-related trade disputes between employers and employees so as to avoid recourse to the National Industrial Court and advising on employee acquisitions and retainerships in various context, across different operating sectors.
As always, we are dedicated towards being a legal step ahead in our Employment advisory services by ensuring that we actively review employment contracts to ensure that they are not onerous to the interest of employees so as to avoid fallout with Regulatory authorities.
Our Lagos employment, trade and industrial relations practice attorneys handles all types of employment and industrial relations issues for companies and individuals in Lagos State and different parts of Nigeria. We advise clients in matters of workplace discrimination, employment contract documentation, harassment, Regulatory violations and other related issues. Our Lagos attorneys also oversees the review and negotiation of employee severance contracts, non-disclosure agreements to ensure protection of the best interests of our clients, and all other Lagos employment contracts, cutting across various sectors in the thriving commercial hub. Hermon Legal Practitioners proudly advises and represents individual clients who want the opportunity to work in a safe environment where their legal interests are protected in their contracts, they’re free from harassment, discrimination and workplace injury due to hazardous standards at work. We have the talent, standards, and drive to ensure that we protect the best interests of our clients in the companies they work in or about to work in.
At Hermon, we advise our clients on a broad range of employment and labour law issues including:
Our Lagos employment lawyers are well versed in the documentation of employment contracts and we actively ensure that our institutional clients and companies we represent maintain high and ethical standards in the engagement terms they offer to prospective employees. By having deep industry knowledge of various sectors and understanding Federal Trade laws and Lagos industrial Regulations, we are able to steer our clients away from pitfalls in the employments either being offered to them or which they’re trying to offer to employees to ensure that there is strict compliance with extant Regulations.
Our Lagos severance lawyers are well versed in the review, negotiation and documentation of severance contracts and the laws of Lagos and Trade laws in Nigeria. We understand that in many cases, there may be need for an employee to leave the employ of an employer due to other job engagement, or for personal reasons, or for continuation of education in other jurisdictions. In that event, we document the rights and responsibilities of both parties in a way that is fair and equitable. From severance pay negotiations, to other packages and continuing obligations, our review team is hands-on to help with this type of issue that may arise from an employment contract.
Hermon has qualified hands to ensure the safeguard of your Intellectual Property right. Our team possess the skills to make sure that our clients reap maximum benefits off their intellectual property. Our Intellectual Property practice covers copyright, patent, related rights, recording deals, publishing agreement, production agreement, trademark, trade secrets, etc. We also provide litigation and alternative dispute resolution services for Intellectual Property related matters.
