Dr Ebenezer (Ben) Adodo

I joined Leicester Law School in January 2016 after a 36-month stint with the University of Surrey. Over the intervening years, I held visiting lectureships in International Trade and Shipping law at King’s College London and in the law of Carriage of Goods by Sea at the University of Nottingham, and was the Director of the Leicester LLM degree programmes. I obtained my academic and professional qualifications in Nigeria, Singapore, and the UK. I have been a Barrister and Solicitor since 2001 but I am currently a non-practising lawyer.

I have published widely on my areas of research interest in influential journals such as Journal of Business Law, Civil Justice Quarterly, Lloyd’s Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, and Journal of Private International Law. My book with Oxford University Press, Letters of Credit: The Law and Practice of Compliance, is the first and only work of that magnitude to devote itself entirely to an extensive and thorough analysis of the problem routinely faced by bankers and other trade finance professionals in ascertaining a regular tender of documents under LC facilities. The second edition of the book is in preparation and projected for release in 2024.

• Sale of goods transactions, including sea carriage arrangements
• Banking and trade finance law
• Comparative commercial law
• Commercial conflict of laws; mechanics of international commercial litigation
• Marine insurance

• Letters of Credit: The Law and Practice of Compliance 2nd edition (OUP, expected in 2024)
• Letters of Credit: The Law and Practice of Compliance (Forward provided by Lord Clarke of the UK Supreme Court), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) Hardback, ISBN 978-019967-4077.
• “Determining a Complying Presentation in Letters of Credit Transactions: A Principled Appraisal of Current Requirements and Challenges” in Dora Neo and Chris Hare (eds), Trade Finance in the Twenty-first Century (Oxford University Press, 2020), pp. 71 – 100.
• “Requirements for Applications seeking Prohibition of Payment on Letters of Credit” In Remigius N Nwabueze (ed), Modern Essays on Nigerian Law. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019), pp. 64 – 92.
• "Bank's Title to sue on Bills of Lading taken up under an Ill-fated Letter of Credit" (2015) Volume 30, Issue 1 Journal of International Banking & Regulation 40
• "By What Criterion should a Requirement be implied into the UCP 600?" (2014) Vol 29 Journal of International Banking Law & Regulation 529. Thomson Reuters/Sweet & Maxwell UK Ltd.
• “Is the Plain Meaning Approach to Construction of ‘Unambiguous Words’ in Contract Still Alive in the English Courts?” [2013] European Business Law Review 537. Kluwer Law International, UK.
• “Validity of a Notice Served under Contractual Rights Reserved” [2013] Lloyd’s Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly, 481. Informa Law, UK.
• “Considerations of Business Common Sense in Advance Payment Bond/Demand Guarantee Interpretation” [2012] Journal of Business Law, 531. Thomson Reuters/Sweet & Maxwell UK Ltd.
• “Letters of Credit: Existence of a Duty to Return Documents Listed in a Rejection Notice” [2012] Journal of International Banking Law & Regulation (Issue 11), 455. Thomson Reuters (Professionals)/Sweet & Maxwell UK Ltd.
• “What is the Legitimate Meaning of a Contractual Clause Requiring Personal Delivery of a Notice?” [2012] Civil Justice Quarterly. Sweet & Maxwell UK Ltd.
• “Article 16 of UCP 600: The Time frame for Returning Rejected Documents and Consequences of it Breach” (2011) Vol 26 Journal of International Banking Law & Regulation 548-557 (commissioned article). Thomson Reuters/Sweet & Maxwell UK Ltd.

I welcome student with research interest in any aspects of my area. At present, I have supervisory responsibility for doctoral candidates, LLM and final year dissertations in the various branches outlined below:

• International Carriage of Goods by Sea - Hasan Ahmed
• Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency - Craig Wright
• Principles of marine insurance in Saudi, Egyptian and UK law compared - Mutaz Alkhedhairy
• Autonomy rule in the law of documentary credits in Libya, Egypt and UK: a comparative study - Tajeldin Mukhtar
• The Bwllfa principle and the extent to which risk and uncertainty should be reflected in the quantum of pre-trial and post-trial damages - Iain Potter
• Buyer's rights and seller's obligations in foreign sales transactions
• Rights of suit on a bill of lading
• Remedies for breach in commercial contracts
• Carrier's rights, immunities and liabilities in sea carriage contracts
• Nature, scope and effect of the modern statutory reforms to non-consumer insurance contracts
• Banker's rights and obligations to its customer in the contemporary world
• Choice of law rules and allocation of jurisdiction in international sales contract litigation

• Commercial Law (LLB, final year students)
• Law of Contract (LLB)
• Analysing Law (LLB)
• International Sales Law (LLM)
• International Banking Law (LLM)

• LLB, LLM (OAU Ife)
• LLM by Thesis, PhD (National University of Singapore)
• Fellow, UK Higher Educ. Acad. 
• Barrister and Solicitor