Founding Partner · New York & Nigeria
Ifedayo Adetokunbo, Esq.
Cross-border estate planning, chieftaincy succession, NY probate. Lead author of the firm's 2022 treatise on Yoruba customary succession.
About the Firm · Est. 2017
A bar-certified practice built for the Yoruba and West African diaspora — not retrofitted from a generalist template.
Alam Lawe Popo LLP is the first US-licensed firm purpose-built for Yoruba-descended clients and the broader West African diaspora. Admitted in New York, Texas, England & Wales, and Nigeria, with offices in Brooklyn, Houston, and Ibadan.
Founding Story
A firm built because the existing ones were not listening closely enough.
In 2017, Ifedayo Adetokunbo, Esq. (NY Bar #2014-1187) and Bàbá Túndé Ọlábísí, Esq. (Nigerian Bar, UK SRA-regulated) opened a practice in Brooklyn with a single conviction: diaspora clients navigating estates, property, and chieftaincy succession between Lagos, London, and Houston were being underserved by firms that did not understand customary law and could not operate across the four jurisdictions where these matters actually live.
Before Alam Lawe Popo, a Yoruba family losing a patriarch in Brooklyn would hand a will drafted in New York to a Nigerian counsel unfamiliar with New York probate, while the London property, the Ibadan family compound, and the chieftaincy stool sat in four separate queues. Adetokunbo and Ọlábísí — both dual-qualified — built the firm to close that loop. By the close of 2024, the practice had grown to fourteen people across three offices, including seven licensed attorneys, two notaries, and three paralegals.
The work is anchored in a specific cultural position: Yoruba-anchored, not generically multicultural. The firm's 2022 peer-reviewed treatise on Yoruba chieftaincy succession and its in-house linguistic team (certified in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Pidgin) are the operational expression of that position — third-party translators are never used for client intake.
Ifedayo Adetokunbo, Esq. & Bàbá Túndé Ọlábísí, Esq.
Founding Partners · Alam Lawe Popo LLP
By the Numbers
Cultural specificity matched by documented output — not soft promises.
The figures below are the same ones we show to bar associations, institutional clients, and the Yoruba cultural councils that retain us. They are drawn from the firm's internal practice record, verified third-party review platforms, and the 2023 African Legal Awards citation.
11,400+
hours
Pro bono counsel delivered to Yoruba cultural associations, 2018–2024.
4.92
/ 5
Across 318 verified Google and Avvo reviews, as of Q4 2024.
$47.8M
preserved
In client assets recovered or protected through cross-border estate and property matters since 2017.
612
cases
Cross-border succession matters closed since 2017 — at 11 weeks average, 38% faster than the diaspora-firm benchmark.
Additional verified record: 96.4% success rate on OCI / UK ancestry visa appeals handled alongside inheritance filings (2019–2024 cohort) · 14 countries served · Average client tenure of 3.4 years, with 71% of engagements arriving by family or community referral.
The Bench
Dual-qualified counsel — admitted where your matter actually sits.
The seven licensed attorneys below are the bench your matter will draw from. Every consultation, filing, and hearing is staffed by a bar-admitted lawyer in at least one of the relevant jurisdictions. Paralegals and notaries support document production; intake is never outsourced.
Founding Partner · England & Wales, Nigeria
Bàbá Túndé Ọlábísí, Esq.
UK property, ancestry visa appeals paired with inheritance filings, and Lagos–London commercial matters. Featured in the 2021 Guardian Nigeria "40 Under 40 — Law."
Senior Counsel · Texas
Àìnà Olúwáṣẹ́un Akíntọ́lá, Esq.
Houston-headquartered practice covering oil-and-gas estate holdings, family limited partnerships, and Texas probate ancillary filings.
Counsel · New York
Fẹ́hìntọ́lá Babalọlá, Esq.
Customary-law evidence and chieftaincy dispute litigation. Co-author of "Ìjọba Ilé: Order in the House" (Athanor Press, 2022).
The full bench includes three additional licensed attorneys admitted across NY, England & Wales, and Nigeria, supported by two notaries and three paralegals across Brooklyn, Houston, and Ibadan. Bar numbers and admission years are disclosed in the engagement letter for every active matter.
Scholarship & Language
Two assets no competitor in this space can replicate.
The Treatise
"Ìjọba Ilé: Order in the House" — the only peer-reviewed English-language work on Yoruba chieftaincy succession.
Published by Athanor Press in 2022, the treatise is now in use as a reference in three US law school seminars on customary law and is cited in two Nigerian High Court succession opinions. It is the operational backbone of the firm's chieftaincy practice and is the reason nine of the fourteen Yoruba-affiliated cultural organizations in the US diaspora directory — including three chieftaincy councils — retain the firm.
The Language Team
In-house linguistic team certified in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and Pidgin.
Client intake, witness preparation, and document translation are handled internally. The firm does not rely on third-party translators for any matter touching customary-law evidence — a structural choice that protects both the accuracy of testimony and the dignity of the client.
Next Step
Thirty minutes with a dual-qualified partner. $195. No follow-up obligation.
The consultation is paid because the advice is substantive — you leave with a written summary of the issues, the jurisdictions involved, and a fixed-fee proposal for any further engagement. If we are not the right firm for your matter, we will say so and refer you onward.
Or reach intake directly: [email protected] · +1 (212) 555-0148 · Brooklyn · Houston · Ibadan