2022-23 Recipient of the Vivian Leitner Global South LL.M. Scholarship Profile

Esther Akhigbe is a lawyer with experience in corporate law and the criminal justice system of Nigeria. For over two years, she worked in the law firm of Siji Soetan & Co., where she performed extensive legal research, advised corporate clients, appeared before trial and appellate courts in Nigeria, and worked on the firm’s pro bono legal representation of indigent pre-trial detainees in Northern Nigeria.

She is passionate about youth development and has publicly condemned brutality and gender-motivated violence by the Nigerian Police while offering pro-bono legal aid to victims in Lagos, Nigeria. She is a member of Amnesty International, Nigeria, and the Young African Leadership Initiative.

In 2019, she served as a law school intern at the High Court of Justice, Edo State, and the law office of the former Solicitor General, Edo State.

As a law student, Esther picked interest in advocacy and human rights causes. She represented Ambrose Alli University at the 25 th All African Human Rights Moot Competition in South Africa where she received commendations for her written brief on issues concerning the conditions of pre-trial detention, freedom of association, and gender equality rights. She served as an Editor for the University’s Law Clinic Bulletin which actively informed the indigenous community of their rights and free access to legal aid by the Clinic.

She holds an LL.B. from Ambrose Alli University and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Nigerian Law School. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

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Leitner Center for International Law and Justice
Fordham University School of Law
150 West 62nd Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10023 USA

Email: LeitnerCenter@law.fordham.edu
Telephone: 212.636.6862
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Faculty and Staff
Paolo Galizzi
Clinical Professor of Law
Director, Sustainable Development Legal Initiative
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