Professional Record

Similoluwa
Esther Ajayi

Law as infrastructure, not just enforcement.

I am a law student at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, graduating in 2028. I work across corporate and commercial law, intellectual property, technology regulation and data protection — and on the institutional systems that decide who gets access to any of it.

This page is the record: where I have worked, what I have researched and written, what I have built, and what I am still studying for. The thinking behind it lives on The Legal Architect.

Corporate & Commercial Intellectual Property Technology & Data Institutional Design
Portrait of Similoluwa Esther Ajayi
Afe Babalola University LL.B 2028

01 · Professional Experience

Legal placements

Work carried out inside law firms, a research institute and a legal publication, with the supervision and output stated plainly.

June – August 2026

Lagos, Nigeria · On-site

Summer Legal Intern

SimmonsCooper Partners

A two-month placement across the firm’s commercial and dispute-resolution practice, supervised by Mrs Oluwadara Omoyele.

  • Researched statutory provisions and case authority for legal memoranda and advisory opinions.
  • Prepared and reviewed court documentation and supporting process.
  • Supported transactional due diligence and regulatory compliance review under the Nigerian framework.
  • Worked on matters involving digital assets and multi-jurisdictional dispute resolution.

2025

Lagos, Nigeria · On-site

Summer Legal Intern

Wole Olanipekun & Co.

Legal research, litigation support and drafting within a Nigerian litigation and corporate advisory practice, including structured case analysis for matters in active conduct.

2026 – Present

Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Research Assistant

Commenced 2026

OGEES Institute, Afe Babalola University

Research in oil, gas, energy and environmental law.

July – August 2026

Remote

Legal Intern & Editorial Contributor

Record of Law

Research-led legal writing and case analysis. Three articles were accepted for publication; two are live and are linked under Research & Writing below.

2026 – 2027

Remote · One-year programme

Legal Intern

Lex Lata

A one-year international law internship covering research and written output in public international law.

August – September 2026

Nigeria

Legal Intern

Adeola Oyinlade & Co.

Assigned research tasks culminating in a presentation to the firm.

2025 – 2026

Remote

Advisory Engagement

NECore Technologies

Advisory support to an early-stage KYC and identity-technology venture on user onboarding, compliance considerations and positioning.

02 · Research & Writing

Published and drafted work

Legal research and analysis, published under my name. Essays and commentary live on the other site.

Published legal research

Third article, on private wealth

Record of Law · accepted, forthcoming

Research and drafting on intellectual property and sport

ABUAD Intellectual Property Club · podcast and essay programme

Briefs, originating processes, mediation and arbitration scenarios

Aequitas Student Chamber · ADR Committee

Essays, commentary and the Ajebutter Papers are on The Legal Architect, where the thinking belongs.

03 · Institutional Work

Systems, not posts

Offices held, and the structures attached to them that were meant to outlast the tenure.

May 2026 – Present

Afe Babalola University

Director, Opportunity Office

ABUAD Law Students’ Society

An office that makes access to opportunities institutional rather than person-dependent — so that a student’s chance of hearing about a scholarship, internship or fellowship does not depend on who they happen to know.

  • Established the Undergraduate and Graduate Opportunity Desks, covering different stages of the student-to-professional pipeline, and the tracking, dissemination and handover procedures the office runs on.
  • Building the Opportunity Office platform, a digital front end through which students find, filter and track opportunities directly rather than relying on broadcast announcements.
  • Working toward adoption through the Students’ Representative Council across other ABUAD colleges.

October 2026 – Present

Afe Babalola University

Director, Professional Development Committee

ABUAD Law Students’ Society

Appointed to direct the Society’s professional development programming.

May 2026 – Present

South-West Nigeria

Zonal Head of Programs

Law Students’ Association of Nigeria · South-West

Programme planning and coordination across the zone, working with State Directors and their deputies.

  • Set baseline documentation and reporting expectations for State Directorates.
  • Established the Zonal Committee of Programs to allow structured delegation.
  • Built handover and transition mechanisms so that each administration does not start from nothing.

May 2026 – Present

Afe Babalola University

Head of Programs

Electricity & Energy Law Society

Programme design for the society, including regulation masterclasses on the legal architecture of the power sector.

2026 – 2027

Nigeria

Member, Programmes Committee

International Law Association, Nigerian Branch · Young Members Committee

Appointed to the Programmes Committee of the Technical Planning Committee for the 2027 YMC Conference.

July 2026 – Present

Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria · Hybrid

Campus Ambassador

Commonwealth Students’ Association

Appointed by the CSA Executive Committee as the sole representative for Afe Babalola University, working with national and regional coordinators on student development and advocacy programming.

2026 – Present

Afe Babalola University

Head, College Liaison Officers

Data Protection & Privacy Club

Lead the college liaison officers and campus ambassadors who carry the club’s work across the colleges of the university.

  • Previously Events & Training Coordinator, April 2025 – 2026: ran a two-day UN digital activism conference, End Digital Violence Against Women and the Girl Child, and monthly training on the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

2024 – June 2026

Afe Babalola University

Earlier offices

Head of Research

Aequitas Student Chamber — briefs, originating processes and moot materials for Chamber Week.

Head of Research

ADR Committee — mediation scenarios for ADR Day and arbitration scenarios for Law Week.

Academic Committee

ABUAD Intellectual Property Club — lead researcher and drafter for podcast and essay programmes.

Academic Mentor

SRC Mentorship Committee — tutorials and transition support for 100L and 200L direct-entry students.

Member

Literary & Debate Society, Academic Committee — LSS ABUAD.

Student ambassadorships

My Lexova AI, named Campus Ambassador of the Month · Cowrywise · LawGlobal Hub · Naos Simulations.

04 · Advocacy & Programmes

On the record, on your feet

Mooting

Competition advocacy

  • Counsel, National Maritime Moot Competition.
  • Researcher and legal drafter, National Data Protection Moot Competition.
  • Lead Counsel, Aequitas Chamber.
  • Counsel, Law Week moot competitions, 2024–2026.

Fellowship

The Bridge Program

Student Fellow on a year-long experiential programme; completed the residential bootcamp and continuing for the remainder of the year. Team work on problem validation, market sizing and business modelling.

05 · Credentials

Professional formation

Completed and in-progress study is labelled as such. I am not yet licensed to practise, and nothing here says otherwise.

WIPO Academy

DL101 — General Course on Intellectual Property

2024

Completed

DL201 — Copyright and Related Rights

2024

Completed

DL178 — Patent Analytics

In progress

DL410 — Intellectual Property Enforcement

In progress

DL451 — Intellectual Property Audit

In progress

DL511v2 — Software Licensing, including Open Source

In progress

Further study

AI, Justice and the Rule of Law

Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

In progress

Chartered Secretaryship and Administration

Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN)

In progress

Associate membership examinations

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (ACIArb)

In progress

Advanced Legal Research & Writing

Legal Diamonds Academy

Completed

Digital Business & Enterprise Training

WIDB / Microsoft

Completed

Memberships

American Bar Association

Member

Energy Institute, United Kingdom

Student Member

International Law Association — Nigerian Branch

Young Members Committee

Student societies

ABUAD Intellectual Property Club · Data Protection & Privacy Club · Electricity & Energy Law Society · Aequitas Student Chamber

Closing

The best thing I can build is something nobody remembers building.

Legal and institutional systems that keep working after the person who designed them has moved on.

Part of the Similoluwa Esther Ajayi legal & executive ecosystem The Legal Architect Initiative →