Emmanuel Gbahabo is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Practice and Head of the firm’s Investigations, White Collar, and Compliance Practice.
He has over 30 years of diverse experience as a seasoned litigator and a trusted compliance and corporate counsel.
He recently re-joined the firm after serving as Senior Legal Counsel in the Global Litigation team of multinational oil and gas company Shell, where he was responsible for strategy development and management of high-risk litigation, arbitration and contentious matters for all Shell companies in Nigeria and Southern Africa.
He has a Master of Laws in Digital Law and Technology from the Catholic University of Lyon, France, and is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional. He has extensive experience representing and counselling global technology and media companies in high-stakes litigation relating to search engine liability, data protection and advertisement regulation, online defamation, and intellectual property disputes.
He is highly regarded for his work in conducting or advising on some of the most sensitive corporate internal investigations that have occurred in the Nigerian market in the past twenty-five years. His practice in this area includes representing corporations, directors and officers as well as regulatory and public authorities in connection with white collar crime, asset tracing, governance and compliance matters.
A Selection Of Relevant Experience
- Representing a multinational oil company in connection with the defense and/or settlement of several lawsuits from the 40, 000-barrel Idoho QIT oil spill in the Niger Delta region.
- Represented Emerald Energy Resources Limited in an LCIA Arbitration.
- Represented the Delta State Government in a multi-billion multiparty arbitration initiated by Econet Wireless Limited in respect of an alleged breach of the pre-emptive rights provisions of a Shareholders Agreement.
- Successfully represented Telegraph Media Group UK-Publishers of the Daily Telegraph of London in a =N=350 Million libel claim instituted against it at the High Court of Lagos state following an article published in the Sunday Telegraph in England and on the internet.
- Represented Google Inc and YouTube Inc in a claim of =N=250 Million in a search engine liability claim brought against the companies on grounds of breach of privacy rights.
- Successfully represented Telegraph Media Group UK – Publishers of the Daily Telegraph of London – in a libel claim of $350 million instituted by Multi- Links Telecommunication Ltd and Telkom SA Limited at the High Court of Lagos State following an article published in the Sunday Telegraph in England and on the internet.
- Advised Japan Gas Corporation (JGC) together with Latham & Watkins LLP in respect of an investigation commenced by the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department of African Development Bank for allegations of corruption in connection with the LNG project in Nigeria.
- Advised one of the largest multinational financial services corporation in the United States on red flag cybersecurity and cyber law requirements in respect of its proposed acquisition of another financial services company.
Professional Memberships
- Member, Nigerian Bar Association
- Member, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics
- Member, International Technology Law Association
- Member, International Bar Association
Expertise
Dispute Resolution, Investigations, White Collar & Compliance (IWC), Media, Entertainment, Technology and Intellectual Property (METI).
