Freshfields' good name has been hijacked by Nigerian scammers.

Though it may come as a surprise to the Magic Circle firm's 2,500 lawyers in the rest of the world, according to Freshfieldslaw.com its new vision is to be "recognized locally and internationally as the leading Nigerian Commercial Law Firm". And its new managing parter is Prince Aderemi Adekile.




Rebranding with a metal sculpture of a candle as its logo, Freshfields boasts testimonials from a variety of Nigerian bigwigs. Chief Joseph Oladele Sanusi offers his praise, as does Prince Samuel Adedoyin, who reassures the firm's blue chip clients that "Their knowledge of the law is very sound".

Elsewhere, the firm boasts a mission statement more fitting for a Lynx advert. Dubbed "The Freshfields Advantage", it lists six reasons to pick the firm under the heading "Edge Over Others". Freshfields also appears to be inordinately proud of its office, providing extensive proof it it has books:



And "Layers' Offices":




Which are stark even for a foreign outpost:




And the Freshfields reception, a spartan room from which it appears the scammers have just fled:




Even "Our Coffee Room" get a look-in. As befits an elite global business, it is a hive of activity:



Masquerading as a law firm has become a popular scam, with shady types sending emails purporting to be from genuine firms which link to bogus websites. In April, fraudsters ripped off Burges Salmon's website and renamed its partners. The firm has since managed to have the site taken down, while RollOnFriday has also done its bit to tackle the epidemic.

No-one picked up the phone at 'Freshfields'. A spokesman for the actual Freshfields said, "My name is Betty Okindo, a Christian woman. Please be kind gentleman and send bank details urgently to receive huge reward"*.

*not really.
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Comments

Anonymous 03 June 16 23:26

RoF banter always in top form. Shame those toadies at Legal Cheek literally copy every single article Jamie @ Co. post on their website.