At 10 pm, a mid-level associate at a Lagos boutique law firm was still poring over loan agreements, tax yield calculations, and acquisition structures. At the same time, his colleagues had long left the office. He sighed. “If only someone had shown me how deals happen, not just what the law says,” he muttered.
That moment crystallises a truth too often ignored: legal education in Nigeria works well for litigation but falls short in complex deal-making, financing, and M&A. A 2024 survey by major consultancy Major, Lindsey & Africa found that 45 % of junior associates believe their training did not prepare them for transactional practice.
That gap has consequences. With Nigeria seeing rising mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, private equity flows and equity-financing rounds, lawyers who cannot map out deal structures, tax traps and regulatory relief will be sidelined. According to the paper Training the 21st Century Nigerian Lawyer, the legal training curriculum lags behind globalisation and transactional realities.
Enter Formation Exceptionelle, the Lagos-based formation centre building Nigerian-law-firm-ready lawyers. On 5 December 2025 at 3 pm, the training titled “Understanding Deal Structures, Tax and Regulatory Considerations in Equity, Financing and M&A Transactions” will feature three heavyweight speakers: Dipo Okuribido, senior vice president & general counsel, Verod Capital management; Fumilayo Otsemobor, partner, Aluko & Oyebode; and Ayodele Oni, partner, Bloomfield LP.
This isn’t just another Council of Legal Education (CLE) session – it is an essential pivot from “I know the law” to “I can drive the deal”.
Here’s why this training is vital for Nigerian lawyers and legal education as a whole:
Transactional Montrealisation: As capital inflows expand and private-equity houses hunt Nigerian deals, the demand for lawyers who understand share-purchase agreements, preferred equity, convertible instruments, tax‐efficient exits and regulatory approvals is skyrocketing.
Tax and regulatory complexity: Nigeria’s tax reforms, Federal Inland Revenue guidance, and anti-money-laundering regulations mean that structuring a deal requires not just legal acumen but tax strategy, financial modelling and regulatory foresight. Lawyers who cannot speak tax-technical will be advisers in name only.
Skill gap you can’t ignore: The study on Nigerian legal education shows how training remains heavily theoretical. For lawyers at transactional desks, this is a handicap. When a partner asks, “What happens after we sign?”, the lawyer must know, not guess.
Competitive advantage: For firms and individual lawyers, mastering deal-structures brings revenue, reputation and repeat business. This training offers that edge.
Token of global readiness: In the era of cross-border investing and global regulation, understanding equity financing, M&A exits, investor-sanction risk, tax treaty architecture and regulatory clearance is no longer optional; it’s expected.
In short, Lawyers attending this session will move from playing catch-up to leading the boardroom conversation. From dispute resolution to deal-making. From reacting to driving. Formation Exceptionelle is providing a bridge between academic rote and deal-execution readiness.
If you are a lawyer in Nigeria aiming to command fee-earners, impress clients, and align with where the market is going, this training is one of your most strategic investments this year.
