Emmanuel Ekpenyong Esq.

Emmanuel joined Strachan Partners, a leading commercial law firm in Lagos, Nigeria, in September 2009. In October 2011, he moved from Lagos to Abuja to establish and manage the Abuja practice of the firm. In 2014, he joined other partners to establish Fred-Young & Evans LP, a full-service commercial law firm, and Fred-Young Recoveries, an international debt collection firm.

Emmanuel is experienced in recovery of diverse debts across borders. He has been engaged in prominent commercial litigations at the High and appellate courts, and has acted as Counsel in both domestic and international commercial arbitrations. He is involved in several public interest litigations, like the suit by some Federal lawmakers in Nigeria against the Federal Government on the constitutionality of the Excess Crude Account, and the action to compel the Federal Minister of Justice, and Attorney General of the Federation, to promulgate an Order to bring Part I of the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act, CAP, F35, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 into operation.

In 2020, Emmanuel commenced an action to challenge the legality of some provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, which infringe the Constitutional fundamental human rights of citizens and other provisions of the Constitution. He also instituted an action for the Court to interpret the extent of the Right to Life under Section 33 of the Constitution and the duty of the Nigerian State to protect and preserve human life. In 2021, he instituted an action for the Court to interpret whether the National Assembly, which is the Nigerian legislative arm of Government, has Constitutional powers under its oversight functions in Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution, to summon the President of Nigeria to answer questions on security of lives and properties in Nigeria.

Emmanuel is exposed to Nigeria’s Constitutional, corporate, and intellectual property practice and advises both foreign and local clients on the legal regime in doing business in Nigeria. He is listed as a foreign associate with James Ling Attorney at Law, China. He is the sole commercial litigation expert in IR Global, Leaders in Law, Advisory Excellence, and World Law Alliance networks. He is a Debt Collection Expert in Global Law Experts and The Lawyer’s Network. He is the sole Nigerian Partner in International Credit Exchange and the Nigerian Legal Expert on Start-up Overseas.

Emmanuel is profiled as a National Expert by Getting the Deal Through. He received a Certificate of Excellence and Fred-Young & Evans was listed amongst the “50 Smartest Companies of the Year” by Silicon Review, 2020 (thesiliconreview.com). Fred-Young & Evans was listed amongst the “50 Best Companies to Watch, 2021” by CIO Bulletin 2021 (50 Best Companies to Watch 2021 (ciobulletin.com)). He is also listed amongst “The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders Making Difference in 2021” by the INC Magazine.

Emmanuel has authored several scholarly articles on family law, alternative dispute resolution and arbitration, debt collection and insolvency, company law and practice, enforcement of local and foreign judgments and arbitral awards, telecommunications, real estate and construction, due diligence, and legal audit compliance on Mondaq, Getting the Deal Through, Lexology, Corporate LiveWire, Virtual RoundTable, Finance Monthly, Lexology, Financial Worldwide, and Start-up Overseas.

Emmanuel’s recent books are “Impact of Nigeria’s Legislations and Business Practices on Foreign Investments” available on www.morebooks.com. He also wrote as a specialist contributor on the topic “Enforcement of Arbitral Awards and Foreign Judgments in Nigeria” to the book “Contemporary Issues in Law and Society: Legal Essays in Tribute to Hon. Justice Chinwe E. Iyizoba JCA” of the Court of Appeal. He wrote a dissertation on “Arbitration! A Bane to Prompt Resolution of International Commercial Disputes; A Case of Nigeria” in partial fulfilment towards an award of LLM Degree by the University of Liverpool, England.