Kunle Deru

is an associate in the Capital Markets Group of Sidley Austin LLP’s New York office. He attended the Columbia University School of Law, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree in 2004, with the Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar distinction and holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Lagos (1999), graduating with upper class honors (magna cum laude). At the Columbia School of Law, he co-founded the African Law Students Association. He started his legal career at the Lagos office of the law firm of Aluko & Oyebode. He is the author of “Researching the Law on the Internet” (published by Kdlaw Publications, July 2003) and is admitted to the Nigerian Bar and the New York Bar.

 

Mr. Deru was the 8th president of the NLA. Mr. Deru is also a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association, and is an associate member of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative. 

 

periodic publication, The Nigerian Lawyer and as the Parliamentarian of the association.  He is currently a partner at Cofie  Law Group, PLLC, where he practices general corporate and commercial law. His practice involves business entity formation and dissolution, negotiating and drafting real estate purchase/sale contracts, commercial leasing agreements and loan agreements.  He also handles bankruptcy matters for individuals and businesses.

Prior to joining Cofie Law Group, Mr. Enobakhare was an associate at the global law firm of Sidley Austin LLP, where he practiced in the area of securitization and structured finance.
 
Mr. Enobakhare obtained his LL.B. from the University of Hertfordshire, England in 1998 (magna cum laude equivalent) and his LL.M (with a concentration in securities and financial regulation) from Georgetown University Law Center in 2006, graduating on the Dean's List. Upon graduation from the University of Hertfordshire, Mr. Enobakhare worked with the Society of Black Lawyers of England and Wales ("SBL"), and was instrumental in organizing an international conference on race hate crimes chaired by Eric Holder, then U.S. Deputy Attorney-General.

 

In his spare time, Mr. Enobakhare enjoys playing tennis and volleyball. 

He attended Columbia University School of Law, where he obtained his Masters of Laws degree in 2006 and also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2000) graduating with upper class honors (magna cum laude). He obtained his Barrister at Law degree from the Nigerian Law School, Abuja in 2002 and started his legal career at the Lagos office of Olaniwun Ajayi & Co shortly afterwards. He is also admitted to the New York State Bar. As a finance associate, Emeka has worked on a variety of complex domestic and international financial transactions acting on both the lenders and borrower sides in different transactions. 

Emeka was the 9^th president of the NLA and is currently the a Co-Chair for the black lawyers affinity group at Shearman & Sterling LLP (a group formed to assist the partnership recruit, train and retain black associates at the firm). Emeka also serves the community through his involvement in various pro bono projects such as Lawyers without Borders - Liberian case law annotation and digitalization, and the Family Court Project in New York City designed to assist indigent persons obtain free legal counsel on family law related matters.

 

Temi Ofuya is a member of the Board of Directors of the NLA. Mr. Ofuya has been In-House Advisory Counsel & Vice President at Morgan Stanley/Morgan Stanley Smith Barney since 2007. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Ofuya was with the international law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York from 2002 to 2007. At Weil, Gotshal, & Manges, Mr Ofuya was a corporate/corporate finance associate and advised on securities law, bank lending, restructuring as well as general corporate matters. Temi Ofuya graduated with a Juris Doctor (Cum Laude) degree from the University at Buffalo School of Law in 2002. While at the Law School, Mr. Ofuya was Publications Editor of the Buffalo Law Review. Mr. Ofuya holds a B. Sc (Hon) degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Mr. Ofuya is admitted to practice law before the Courts of the State of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.