Cardinal Counsel’s Managing Partner, Bernice Ofunre Asein, spoke as a panelist at the ICC YAAF (Young Arbitrators and ADR Forum) Africa Chapter Conference 2026, held at the Lagos Continental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, on 5 June 2026.

Bernice featured on the panel “Emerging Areas; Emerging Practitioners,” alongside a distinguished group of dispute resolution practitioners from across Africa and Europe, including representatives from Five Paper Chambers (London), AccendoLaw Partners, Triple A Dispute Resolution (Nairobi), and the ICC’s own Dispute Resolution Services team. The session examined how arbitration practice is being reshaped by emerging, sector-focused specialisations, including sports, fashion, intellectual property, the creative economy, joint ventures, restructuring and insolvency, and regulated industries, and how practitioners can build relevant expertise and position their practices within this changing landscape.

As one of the practitioners speaking specifically to fashion and creative economy disputes, Bernice’s contribution reflected Cardinal Counsel’s ongoing work at the intersection of fashion law, intellectual property, and commercial arbitration, an area still underdeveloped in Nigerian and African dispute resolution practice, but one that is growing quickly as African fashion, beauty, and creative businesses scale into international markets and encounter more complex, cross-border commercial disputes.

The conference forms part of the ICC’s broader efforts, through its Young Arbitrators and ADR Forum, to build the next generation of arbitration and dispute resolution practitioners across the African continent.

If your business is navigating a commercial dispute in the fashion, beauty, or creative industries, whether through litigation, mediation, or arbitration, Cardinal Counsel can help. Contact us at info@cardinalcounsel.co.

Cardinal Counsel (Barristers & Solicitors) | Suite D14, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall, Surulere, Lagos | info@cardinalcounsel.co