New Head of Chambers!
As Black History Month started, so did a new era at 5 Pump Court as Abimbola Badejo became our new Head of Chambers following an election process. We pay tribute to our former Head of Chambers, Michael Collard, who had provided great leadership over the last 20 years and who remains in practice with us specialising in property and construction disputes.
Abimbola was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in November 1993. He undertook pupillage at 5 Pump Court, but was not successful in gaining tenancy at that time and left the Bar to work in house at a Local Authority as a housing advocate. From there, he was promoted to Head of Housing Litigation. He then moved to Lawrence Graham Solicitors to undertake non-contentious housing work, and then to Bircham Dyson Bell where he requalified as a solicitor.
Abimbola moved again, to Winckworth Sherwood, before returning to the Bar having missed life as a self-employed advocate. He was originally a tenant with Arden Chambers before returning to 5 Pump Court in 2010.
Abimbola originally had a practice in housing law, but started to undertake family law cases and has built a very successful children and finance practice, working in a wide range of cases across the family law spectrum. In 2013, he returned to Nigeria for 15 months to study there, and was admitted as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2014. With that knowledge, he acts as an expert witness in cases which engage aspects of Nigerian law including personal injury, tax and family cases. He is particularly in demand for cross-border family cases where children are moving between the UK and Nigeria.
Outside of Chambers, Abimbola is a family man spending as much time with his wife and children as he can. He is a dining room DJ, mixing tunes for the kids at home to keep them entertained! He is a huge fan of Arsenal Football Club. He is also a keen swimmer, making sure that he goes every day to keep fit and to clear his mind!
Welcome Abimbola, we are delighted that you have been elected as our Head of Chambers and are all looking forward to working with you in your new role!