ASO KALU ETEA, MCIArb (UK), ACTI, PNM

Aso is the Head of the Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law Practice of Calmhill Partners. Prior to
co-founding the Firm, he practiced corporate law and was actively engaged in the labor law,
entertainment law, and dispute resolution practice at Streamsowers & Köhn.
He also has extensive experience in the formation, financing, and growth of new ventures having been
seconded to set up and head the legal department and advising the Board of Unicorn Exploration and
Production Nigeria Ltd from 2014 to 2016. Prior to this time, he had practiced law at ABFR and Co., in
Lagos where he was deeply involved in real estate and other intellectual property transactions. Aso
advises several international and Nigerian clients on IP rights, doing business in Nigeria, real estate
acquisitions, debt recovery, cross border trade, and labor relations. He holds a law degree from the
prestigious University of Nigeria, and attended the Nigerian Law School in Lagos.
In his core area of practice, he has advised G-Worldwide Entertainment, U & I Music, Twenty 20 Media,
Made In Africa Publishing in UK, Otherside Media, Broken Records, Perception Media, Jollyhood, Sir
Justine Worldwide Entertainment, More Coke Entertainment in South Africa, Kedu TV LLC in Delaware,
Measurable Accurate Digital Solutions in Texas, Engage Ltd, Africa Live Play 360 Ltd (on their
management of an extensive list of ambassadorship deals for Guinness and Diageo in Nigeria), Play
Empire Records, GNT Nation and several independent music artists. Aso has also been involved in
drafting and reviewing several critical documentations on music licensing, and the acquisition of master
rights and copyrights between local media outfits and international record labels and entertainment law
investors such as: Warner Music, Orchard, Regime Music Societe, Ziki Media, Vertumnus, We are the
Griots, and Universal Music Group.
As an author, Aso has written several entertainment and IP related articles on different platforms
including on Gravitas Review of Business and Property Law and Journal of Commercial Law. He also
speaks frequently on IP rights. He is the author of the book: Music Artistry and Nigerian Law –
Optimizing Recording Contracts & Publicity Rights (Quiver Publishers, June 2022).
Aso is a certified member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Maritime Arbitrators Association
of Nigeria (MAAN), and the international Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators' Forum (ICCYAF). He
is also a member of Lagos Court of Arbitration, Association of Professional Negotiators and Mediators,
Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria, and
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Aso is a Notary Public of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.