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AS A LAWYER, YOUR OPPORTUNITY IS BEYOND LAW” – FUNMILAYO FENWA
Tosin Clegg
The NYU-bound Nigerian lawyer on breaking boundaries, thinking beyond traditional practice, and why young lawyers should see their degree as a passport, not a prison
On a humid Tuesday afternoon in Victoria Island, I meet Funmilayo Fenwa at a quiet café near her office. She’s just wrapped up her final week at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, preparing to leave for New York University to begin an LL.M. program in Corporate Law. At 24, she’s already handled transactions worth over $800 million and is leaving behind a reputation most lawyers spend decades building.
But what strikes me most about our conversation isn’t her CV. It’s her restlessness with the conventional definition of what lawyers should do.
“I think we limit ourselves,” she says, stirring her coffee. “We get this law degree, pass the Bar, and suddenly we think our only path is partner track at a law firm or maybe a judge’s chambers. But legal training teaches you how to think, analyze complex problems, communicate, and negotiate. Those skills apply everywhere: business, policy, technology, and development. As a lawyer, your opportunity is beyond law.”
It’s a provocative statement from someone who’s excelled in traditional legal practice. But as our conversation unfolds, it becomes clear that Fenwa’s success comes precisely from refusing to see herself as “just a lawyer.”
Fenwa didn’t set out to become a project finance lawyer. When she joined Olaniwun Ajayi as a graduate trainee in 2017, fresh from a First Class Honours degree at Nottingham Trent University and a top 2% finish at Nigerian Law School, she thought she’d do general corporate work.
“I was assigned to a project finance matter in my second month,” she recalls. “It was this massive infrastructure deal with multiple moving parts: legal, financial, technical, regulatory, political. I was completely overwhelmed at first. But then I realized: this is where law intersects with everything else. You’re not just interpreting statutes. You’re understanding business models, financial structures, engineering constraints, government policy. That appealed to me.”
What she’s describing is exactly the kind of cross-disciplinary thinking that defines her approach. On the Seplat-Eland acquisition (a $503 million deal she worked on last year), her contribution went beyond legal analysis.
“There was a regulatory compliance issue we discovered during due diligence,” she explains, careful not to reveal confidential details. “The purely legal answer was clear: there’s a problem, it needs fixing. But the business question was: can we fix it in time? What’s the cost? What are the alternatives? I ended up working with regulatory experts, talking directly to government officials, and developing a solution that was legally and commercially viable. That’s not traditional lawyering. That’s problem-solving.”
Education as Foundation, Not Ceiling
Fenwa credits her legal education with giving her analytical tools, but she’s adamant that lawyers shouldn’t stop there.
“Law school teaches you to think rigorously, to argue both sides, to find the weaknesses in any position,” she says. “Those are incredibly valuable skills. But law school doesn’t teach you about financial modeling, or how infrastructure projects are built, or how development finance institutions make decisions. If you want to be excellent in project finance (or corporate strategy, or policy), you need to learn those things yourself.”
She’s practiced what she preaches. While working full-time at Olaniwun Ajayi, she’s taken online courses in financial analysis and project management. She reads voraciously: not just legal journals, but economics papers, infrastructure development reports, and energy sector analyses.
“My colleagues sometimes joke that I’m doing an MBA on the side,” she laughs. “But I genuinely think lawyers who work on business matters need to understand business, not just the legal framework around business. You’re a better advisor when you understand what your client is actually trying to achieve.”
This philosophy extends to her academic writing. Her recent article on ESG integration in project finance drew on environmental science, development economics, and social impact assessment, not just legal doctrine.
“The best scholarship is interdisciplinary,” she argues. “The problems we’re trying to solve (climate change, infrastructure gaps, economic development) don’t respect disciplinary boundaries. Why should our thinking?”
When I ask about her decision to leave practice for further study, Fenwa pushes back on the framing.
“I’m not leaving practice,” she corrects gently. “I’m expanding my toolkit. The NYU LL.M. is a year (maybe I’ll extend it to work in the U.S. for a bit), but then I’ll be back to doing transactions. Just, hopefully, with a broader perspective and deeper expertise.”
She’s frustrated by what she sees as false choices young professionals make about careers.
“People ask me: are you a lawyer or an academic? Are you going to practice or do policy work? Are you staying in Nigeria or going international? These aren’t binary choices. You can practice law and publish scholarship. You can work on commercial transactions that have a social impact. You can build a career that moves between Nigeria, the U.S., and other markets.”
This both/and thinking, rather than an either/or approach, seems central to how she’s navigated her career. At Olaniwun Ajayi, she didn’t choose between working on major deals and engaging in academic work. She did both. She didn’t choose between learning from senior partners and developing her own perspective. She did both.
“The lawyers I admire most are the ones who’ve built multidimensional careers,” she says. “They’ve done high-level practice, but they’ve also shaped policy or built institutions or contributed intellectually to the field. That’s the kind of career I want: one where I’m not limited to one role.”
There’s another dimension to Fenwa’s expansive view of legal careers: impact.
She’s visibly energized when talking about the ANOH gas project, which will eventually supply electricity to millions of Nigerian homes. “That’s why I love infrastructure work,” she says. “You can see the connection between what you’re doing and people’s lives. You’re not just moving money around. You’re enabling projects that change communities.”
But she’s also realistic about the constraints of commercial practice.
“Law firms are businesses,” she acknowledges. “You have billable hours targets. You serve clients who are trying to make money. That’s legitimate. Capital needs to earn returns, or it won’t flow to projects. But I think lawyers should also think about how we can apply our skills in spaces where traditional commercial models don’t work.”
She mentions pro bono work she’s done with civil society organizations on legal aid and governance issues. She talks about the World Bank Doing Business reports she contributed to, which examine regulatory frameworks in emerging markets. These weren’t paid engagements, but they expanded her understanding of how law intersects with development.
“I’d love to see more Nigerian lawyers thinking about how we can contribute to policy, to institution-building, to solving problems that markets alone won’t solve,” she says. “We have this incredible training. Let’s use it broadly.”
Advice for Young Lawyers: Think Bigger
As our conversation winds down, I ask what advice she’d give young lawyers starting their careers.
“First, don’t be in a rush to specialize,” she says immediately. “Early in your career, try different things. You don’t know what you’ll love until you’ve experienced it. I thought I’d do M&A work. I ended up loving project finance because I was willing to try it.”
“Second, invest in skills beyond legal analysis. Learn about finance, about technology, about whatever sector you’re working in. Take courses, read widely, ask questions. The lawyers who become indispensable aren’t just technically good. They understand the business context.”
“Third, build relationships across disciplines. Some of my most valuable professional connections aren’t lawyers. They’re bankers, engineers, government officials, academics. Those relationships make you a better lawyer because you see problems from different angles.”
Fourth, don’t be afraid to pursue opportunities outside traditional practice. If you get a chance to work in-house, or in government, or at a development institution, or to study abroad, consider it seriously. Those experiences broaden your perspective in ways you can’t predict.”
“Fifth, contribute to your field. Write, speak at conferences, mentor younger lawyers, and engage with policy debates. Don’t just consume knowledge. Create it. That’s how you develop a reputation beyond your firm.”
She pauses, then adds: “But most importantly, remember that being a lawyer is one part of your identity, not all of it. You’re also a thinker, a problem-solver, a citizen, a human being. Don’t let professional identity narrow how you see yourself and what you can contribute.”
Fenwa leaves for New York in August. She’s excited about studying with leading corporate law scholars, meeting classmates from dozens of countries, and experiencing a different legal market.
“I want to understand how deals are structured in the U.S., how capital markets work, how different regulatory frameworks shape transactions,” she explains. “Those insights will make me better at advising on cross-border deals when I’m back in Africa.”
But she’s also clear-eyed about the challenges. “I’m going from being a known quantity at a top Nigerian firm to being a foreign student in a new country,” she says. “That’s humbling. But I think the discomfort of being a beginner again is good for growth.”
Beyond the LL.M., her ambitions are both specific and open-ended. She wants to continue working on large-scale infrastructure projects. She’s interested in how blended finance can unlock private capital for development. She wants to write more (perhaps eventually a book on project finance in emerging markets). She’d like to teach someday.
“I don’t have it all mapped out,” she admits. “But I know I want a career that combines high-level technical work with broader impact. I want to work on transactions that matter, contribute intellectually to my field, and help develop the next generation of lawyers. If I can do those things (whether as a partner at a law firm, or in-house at a development institution, or in some hybrid role we don’t even have a name for yet), I’ll be satisfied.”
As we finish our coffee and prepare to leave, I’m struck by how different Fenwa’s vision of a legal career is from the traditional model. She’s not rejecting the law. She’s refusing to be confined by it.
“Legal training is a platform,” she says as we shake hands. “What you build on that platform is up to you.”
