Ololade Saromi

Ololade accepts instructions in relation to the full range of banking and finance disputes. He has recently been instructed to advise, draft, or provide advocacy in relation to:

• Secured lending disputes.
• Asset finance / finance leasing.
• Invoice finance and factoring.
• Breaches of FSMA 2000.
• Debt claims.
• Fraud.
• Payment services disputes.
• Enforcement of securities, guarantees, and indemnities.
• Consumer credit claims.
• Wrongful interference with goods / conversion.

Examples of recent and ongoing cases:

• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for an international factoring company based in the USA in a $650,000 claim against one of its clients based in the UK involving issues of fraudulent misrepresentation, procurement of breach of contract, and conspiracy to injure (ongoing).
• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy in a $500,000 investment-related claim raising issues of undue influence, unconscionable bargain, unjust enrichment, unlawful provision of regulated activities under the Financial Markets and Services Act 2000, joint venture agreements, and recission. The claim has been set for a 7-day High Court trial to be listed in 2023 (ongoing).
• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for a large asset-based lender in proceedings to recover over £100,000. The issues that arise include the determination of the governing contractual terms where there are two apparently competing contracts, the effect of redemption statements, unjust enrichment, estoppel by representation, and change of position (ongoing).
• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for a major high street bank in a mortgage possession case in which the issues that arise include the determination of what the originally agreed mortgage term was, complex account recalculations spanning 15 years, contract variation, and estoppel by convention (ongoing).
• Represented a commercial bank in an application to rectify the particulars of a registered debenture it had taken as security for a loan.
• Acted for the third-party purchaser of a Porsche 911 Turbo valued at £110,000 in the trial of a return of goods claim brought by a consumer finance company. The issues that arose included the identity of the parties to the governing contract and the application of the private purchaser in good faith without notice defence under s.27 of the Hire Purchase Act 1964.
• Successfully defended a major high street bank in a claim by a retail customer for the repayment of sums the customer had invested into a binary options trading account, opened with a third party, which incurred substantial losses. The claim was brought on grounds that the bank had failed to action a chargeback pursuant to the Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, and that the bank had treated the customer unfairly contrary to the FCA’s Principles for Businesses and Banking: Conduct of Business Sourcebook.
• Successfully resisted an application to set aside a possession order obtained by a finance company on grounds that the applicant had an overriding interest that took priority to the lender’s charge.
• Successfully defended a finance company in various claims brought against it by a number of its consumer credit customers. The customers argued that their loan agreements had given rise to unfair relationships under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 by reason of undisclosed commissions paid by the lender to the customers’ respective brokers.
• Acted for various high street banks and finance houses in proceedings to enforce their security over real property for various types of lending, including Regulated Consumer Credit Agreements and Regulated Mortgage Contracts.
• Acted for a factoring company in an application to join its client into a claim brought by the factor to collect a debt owed to the client by one of its customers. A key issue in the case was whether a non-assignment clause had been effectively incorporated into the contract between the client and the customer.
• Advised a large factoring company in a case valued at over £100,000 on whether its client’s terms of business had been validly incorporated into a supply of goods contract with the debtor and the enforceability of exemption clauses.
• Acted for a major high street bank in successfully resisting an application for a mandatory injunction and obtaining indemnity costs in the High Court. The case involved a foreign exchange transaction, where an importer of goods based in Africa, who believed it was paying invoices from its European supplier, was fraudulently induced into paying money into an account held with the bank.
• Represented a finance house in a claim to enforce a personal guarantee and indemnity given by a director of a restaurant business to secure an asset finance agreement. Successfully applied to strike out the director’s defence, obtained summary judgment and indemnity costs.
• Acted for a major high street bank in a claim brought by a retail customer who had been the victim of a cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Ololade’s recent commercial litigation experience includes instructions to advise, draft, or provide advocacy in relation to:

• Breach and interpretation of contracts.
• Undue influence.
• Misrepresentation.
• Unconscionable bargain.
• Rectification.
• Unjust enrichment and restitution.
• Joint venture.
• Limitation.

Examples of recent and ongoing cases:

• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for a London Borough Council in a claim brought against it by one of its external care services providers for unpaid invoices. Successfully obtained an order setting aside a default judgment of over £100,000. The issues that arise include the identity of the parties to the governing contracts, authority of a partner to enter into deeds on behalf of a partnership, and limitation (ongoing).
• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for an international factoring company based in the USA in a $650,000 claim against one of its clients based in the UK involving issues of fraudulent misrepresentation, procurement of breach of contract, and conspiracy to injure (ongoing).
• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy in a $500,000 investment-related claim raising issues of undue influence, unconscionable bargain, unjust enrichment, unlawful provision of regulated activities under the Financial Markets and Services Act 2000, joint venture agreements, and recission. The claim has been set for a 7-day High Court trial to be listed in 2023 (ongoing).
• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for a large asset-based lender in proceedings to recover over £100,000. The issues that arise include the determination of the governing contractual terms where there are two apparently competing contracts, the effect of redemption statements, unjust enrichment, estoppel by representation, and change of position (ongoing).
• Acted for a utility company in various service-related claims brought against it by customers and members of the public.
• Defended one of the UK’s largest car manufacturers in a claim brought by a well-known sporting personality. The primary question in the case was whether the parties had entered into an introducer agreement under which the claimant would be paid commissions for introducing to the defendant celebrities it later sponsored.
• Successfully represented one of the UK’s largest estate agencies in various claims against a number of the agency’s landlords who had attempted to evade the payment of contractual commissions.
• Represented the UK subsidiary of a US biopharmaceutical company in a claim against an international accountancy firm. The primary issue in the case was whether the parties had entered into a binding contract for services or were still in pre-contractual negotiations.

Ololade accepts all appropriate instructions, and his recent experience includes:

• Winding up and bankruptcy petitions.
• Bankruptcy annulments.
• Applications for orders for possession and sale.
• Advising in disputes relating to preferences and transactions at an undervalue.
• Advising in applications for declarations and an order for possession and sale.
• Applications to stay writs/warrants of possession.

Examples of recent and ongoing cases:

• Resisting an application to stay a warrant of possession issued pursuant to an order for possession and sale.
• Represented the trustees in bankruptcy in their application for an order for possession and sale of a property which constituted a part of the bankrupt’s estate but over which a third-party claimed to hold a long lease.
• Acted for the trustees in bankruptcy in an application to terminate the bankrupt’s spouse’s notice of home rights and to have the notice removed from the register of title for the property.
• Obtaining orders for the substituted service of bankruptcy petitions.
• Resisted an application by debtors for additional disclosure by the petitioning creditor.
• Resisted an application to set aside a statutory demand.
• Advising a former bankrupt on the removal of bankruptcy notices and restrictions against their property from the Land Register almost 10 years after being discharged from bankruptcy.
• Appearing in various hearings of winding up petitions.
• Appearing in various hearings of bankruptcy petitions.

Ololade accepts all appropriate instructions including:

• Company restorations.
• Rectification of register.
• Breaches of directors’ duties.
• Shareholder disputes.
• Unfair prejudice petitions.
• Derivative actions.
• Partnership disputes.

Examples of recent and ongoing cases:

• Advising, drafting pleadings, and conducting advocacy for a London Borough Council in a claim brought against it by one of its external care services providers for unpaid invoices. Successfully obtained an order setting aside a default judgment of over £100,000. The issues that arise include the identity of the parties to the governing contracts, authority of a partner to enter into deeds on behalf of a partnership, and limitation (ongoing).
• Drafted company restoration proceedings.
• Represented a commercial bank in an application to rectify the particulars of a registered debenture it had taken as security for a loan.
• Advised and represented a hunting club in resisting an application for pre-action disclosure by the hunt’s supporters association. The association was attempting to prevent a merger between the hunt and another hunting club by challenging the validity of a vote at the hunt’s AGM in favour of the merger.

• BPTC, Very Competent (“Outstanding” in, amongst others, Civil Litigation, Evidence and Remedies), University of Law, Birmingham, 2015
• LLB (Hons) (Law with Business Studies), University of Birmingham, 2012

• International Outgoing Scholarship to Nigeria, Pegasus Scholarship Trust, 2020.
• BPTC Award, University of Law, 2014
• HH Paul Clark Scholarship, Middle Temple, 2014
• Accenture Strategy Prize (Business), University of Birmingham, 2012
• Birmingham Scholarship, University of Birmingham, 2012

• Chairman, British Nigeria Law Forum, 2022 – ongoing.
• Committee Member, COMBAR Africa Committee, 2022 – ongoing.
• Vice-Chair, British Nigeria Law Forum, 2020 – 2022.
• The Commercial Bar Association.
• London Common Law & Commercial Bar Association (LCLCBA).
• R3 Association of Business Recovery Professionals.
• Co-Head, Junior Lawyers Division, British Nigeria Law Forum, 2019 – 2021.
• The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.

• Yoruba

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