Transcription
We just come pass.
It came from a calling that I had years ago, sometime in 2007, to help young people to pursue greatness. Greatness was the assignment. Yes. I wanted a name that aligned with my purpose. Helping people to see life beyond their immediate family, immediate community, and understand that the whole essence of humanity is to go beyond self. I didn't want to use Charles Ajiu and Charles LLP because, again, it was not supposed to be about me. The firm is supposed to outlive me; it's supposed to be an umbrella where people can come and flourish, become their best self, and achieve their best career potentials. And that was when we went out looking for a name. We thought about names like Greatness Chambers, The Height Place, and all sorts, and eventually, we came up with The Penthouse. Why? Because the penthouse in any building is always at the top. Greatness requires you to be at the top, but not at the top because you have all the money or all the titles. At the top because you have fulfilled your purpose. Even the logo exemplifies this. If you look at the logo of The Penthouse, it looks like a house. It looks like stairs. The first logo that we had was actually like some kind of stairs. Then there was an arrow that meant that you had to climb up, and then when you get to the top, there's an arrow that says you have to keep going. Branded a few years ago. We came up with this modified version of it, absorbed the house, and came up with the bars with the stairs. But that was how we came up with the name, The Penthouse Solicitors. After a while, we were better known as The Penthouse Law because we became a very creative and innovative law firm with a lot of energy, and then we're doing a whole lot of stuff. We were one of the pioneers of digital legal service in the country, and so we, we, we, we were better known as The Penthouse Law because we're doing a lot of things much more than just solicitors' work.
Life happened to be hunger set. I knew that I had to make money somehow because I couldn't continue to give. Is it that is world that blood isn't it? I couldn't really give as much as I could because, again, my source of income had been stifled. I had resigned. And so I told myself, what is it I could do? And then I had to go to what I knew how to do best, which was being a lawyer. I started on The Penthouse Solicitors, and then we had to use that as how we make money, help people, and then had more time to also do the other things wanted to do. We have five of them. It's the bedrock of The Penthouse. And we brought them out from the depth of how The Penthouse Solicitors came to be. The first is greatness. Like I told you about how we got the name. The second is creativity. The third is possibilities. The fourth is ownership. And the fifth one is excellence. I'll run through them very quickly. Greatness. I've spoken about it. Living a life beyond yourself. Creativity because we are not limited. We don't think within a box. We think without a box. We go all the height. Possibilities because we are extreme optimists. We don't believe in impossibilities. We don't know limitations. We just fly. Ownership because everybody in Penthouse is supposed to be an owner. He's supposed to own everything. Run with it as if this was your initial vision, and then be it as though you were the one who actually conceived it. Excellence because this is Penthouse. We say this all the time: when you're in Penthouse, if you are not properly, this is Penthouse. If you do not write the letter properly, this is Penthouse. If you did not do a suit properly, this is Penthouse. At Penthouse, excellence cannot be compromised, and those are the five values that define our existence.
So pretty much Penthouse Solicitors is divided into four teams. We have the Digital Legal Service team. We have the Creative Economic team. We have the Corporate and Commercial team. We have the Dispute Resolution team. We have the Real Estate team. And we have the Social Justice and Policy Advocacy team. Each team pursues different areas of practice. The Digital Legal Service, as we've called it, handles everything that has to do with digital compliance, digital audit services, working with tech companies. Creative Economy works with everything around entertainment law, um, of course, intellectual property, arts, and all of those things. Corporate Commercial is our transactional team that works with everything that has to do with transactions, corporate communications, corporate commercial. It's under that we also have our sectoral services. Our company sectoral services is also under our company and commercial team. We have the Dispute Resolution, which is also the dispute prevention team. The ADL team, the mediation teams, they all submerged under our Dispute Resolution team. Whether it is in court or out of court or without any form of cultural resolution. Of course, the Real Estate team handles everything that has to do with real estate inspections, searches, um, contracts, um, construction devel construction management and advisory services. And then the Social Justice and Policy Advocacy team handles everything that has to do with legislative influencing, public relations, handles everything that has to do with pro bono, prejudicing the conjunction and free legal services and all of that. That's under the Social Justice and Policy Advocacy team. Those are the teams that operate within The Penthouse Solicitors.
You have like four or five heads. Inside The Penthouse, you have the attributes of Mother Teresa. You have the energy of Mahatma Gandhi. You will have the industry of a combination of Aliko Dangote and Tony Elumelu. You will have it all fused together, and then it will become a person. Then you will have the virtues and the values and the principles are in the good book, the Bible. When you combine everything together, you will have what is Penthouse. If Penthouse was a person, that will be the person. It will be to be Penthouse.
Uh, I would say two one that as a lawyer, you must be poor. What uses your wisdom and your knowledge if it cannot generate you wealth? It's not true. If you are brilliant, if you are smart, like we are at Penthouse Solicitors, it's also commensurate. It balances well for you to also be successful financially. And the second myth that we should also bust is that because you're practicing law, the rules of professional conduct prevents you from doing other things. No, interpret it properly. What it says is different. A lawyer is typically an extremely creative and versatile person. And the fact that you are a lawyer should not choke your originality, should not stiff your creativity, but rather it should release you to full expression.
Man, this one is deep. If I could give an advice to my younger self, I'll tell younger child, I'll say, "It's not enough for you to believe. You should pursue." I realized that many times in my life, I've believed in things. I've known things, but I've been very laidback about running after them. I've not been very pushed through. I've not been very aggressive. And most people that have had the best results in life, they've not had it because they were smarter, because they were wiser, because they were more intelligent. They just had it because they chose to run after it, and they did not look at anybody. That's what I would tell my younger self. I'll tell my younger self, run after your convictions.
Most people that have worked for Penthouse in the past often leave Penthouse to start up something on their own or in partnership with others. Very few get to work with other places. Our culture is extremely different. Our models operate is different. At The Penthouse, you're not just a normal lawyer. You're made to think differently. You're made to feel about yourself differently. You're not just like a family. It's not about the culture that we have there. It's about the mindset. It's about the way we think. It's about how you feel when you're in Penthouse. I, I, it's, it's not just pride, but we are different. You see, this is Penthouse. And once you are in Penthouse, if you go any other place, you will know that this is not Penthouse. Everything is different. The breeze, the smell, the way we walk, the way we talk, the way we write, everything oozes Penthouse. It's just Penthouse. There's no way to describe Penthouse other than to say Penthouse. And there cannot be another Penthouse. That's just it.
A client mentioned to me yesterday, and I was impressed. I have had like three cases. We've done different things with lawyers, but there's something different about your approach. I feel so at home. I feel so comfortable. Another client that once said to us, he said, "You know why I like The Penthouse? You, you guys don't just know the law. You understand the business of it." And so your advice and the way you deploy your solution is extremely different. These are true life stories and feedback on clients. And that's what you expect if you decide to work with a Penthouse. We are not just copycats like millennials. We sell like geniuses. This is the truth. It's not copying. Everything is different here. Our advice is very practical. We don't just come and talk about law. This is what the law says. This is what the law says. Is it the law you want to meet? You want results. Our tagline is uncommon results. And so all we are focused on when we are solving a client's problem is results. Not legal gibberish, not long stories, not quoting cases in session, this in junction, that case, this. No, results. That's what we give you. That's what you should get.
Those who work at The Penthouse know that there are no two the same days. Yesterday does not look like today. Today will not look like tomorrow. Everything is different. Today you come, baz, everything is about work, work, transaction, um, cut this, that, and tomorrow you come, everybody's just chewed every other, you're like, is this the place I came yesterday? The culture is very flexible. It's the atmosphere is so warm. It's smooth every day because we know that we spend more time at work than even with our families. You are at work from morning to evening, Mondays to Fridays. We try to create a culture whereby work is like home. You don't feel like going home except because you know that you cannot sleep at work. But there's no toxic, it's not toxic. There is no pressure. You work with ease. You really work with your colleagues as if they're your brothers or sisters. And people really, really get to bond at The Penthouse, as in really, really get to bond. But don't take it too far. It's a family, and The Penthouse, and we enjoy what we do here.
Uncommon Results is our tagline. And beyond all the legal magazines, Nemoex and Castle, and all of those things we talk about, everyone that is a lawyer and everyone that engages a lawyer or lawyers should be focused on results and how to get those results in the most ethical way. Not by desperation and not by being unnecessarily aggressive, but by focusing on the possibilities, by believing in the possibilities, and working towards the possibilities because they are truly possible. At The Penthouse, we are unapologetic optimists, and that's what we think everybody should have. Let the results be your focus, and then marshal the models of delivering those results. So at The Penthouse Law, everybody is a content creator. Everybody is extraordinary. Expect all the extraordinary nuances. If there's anything like that, expect all the wow content, intelligent content, inspirational content, things from the heart, things from work, things from experiences. We're going to be giving you back to back. If you follow Penthouse Law and you consume the content that will be coming out from the people that are Penthouse Law. But don't worry, just chill. Watch out for those that are coming. Oh, my guys was singing one song in, they never see me coming. I don't know that sound good, but see, you don't see Penthouse coming. We just come pass. Nobody sees us coming. The enemy is much. Look at us now. Since 2012, we are still balling. Bigger things are happening. We are taking over every space that we operate in. We are setting a new standard. We are redefining is being practiced and its interaction and the relationship with business across Africa. We are expanding massively. We are growing organically. However, geometrically, things are happening. And don't worry, you just keep hearing Penthouse. After a while, you'll be dreaming like this. Oh, don't worry. We are coming. You can't see us.
It's been nice talking to you. I've enjoyed every bit of answering all these questions. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. And I hope that sometime we'll get to have you in the room. I'll get to shake hands with you. You'll walk into Penthouse office one day, and we'll shake hands. We'll drink coffee. We'll drink tea, and um, maybe have a drink. What I mean? Catch you.