Our People

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• Judge of the court of appeal of Seychelles
• Previous judge of Supreme Court of Mauritius

Among our Mau­rit­ian coun­ter­parts, Dr S.B. Domah, retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Mau­ri­tius, is the Chair­per­son of our Board. He is also one of our prized legal con­sul­tants. The firm draws a lot from his exten­sive prac­tice in legal, judi­cial and admin­is­tra­tive fields. He is also the cur­rent judge of the Court of Appeal of Sey­chelles. He holds a doc­toral degree in Com­par­a­tive Law from Aix-Mar­seille Uni­ver­sity and King’s Col­lege. A mem­ber of Mid­dle Tem­ple, he holds an LLB and an LLM from the Uni­ver­sity Col­lege Lon­don. 

His notable spe­cial­iza­tions include Air and Space Law, Pub­lic Inter­na­tional Law, Pri­vate Inter­na­tional law, Inter­na­tional Trade Law, the Law of Pub­lic Pro­cure­ment. He has been con­duct­ing aca­d­e­mic lec­tures and voca­tional train­ing at Uni­ver­si­ties and other ter­tiary insti­tu­tions in Con­sti­tu­tional Law, Con­struc­tion Law, Inter­na­tional Busi­ness Law, Bank­ing Law, Com­par­a­tive Law, Legal Opin­ion Writ­ing etc. Fel­low of the Insti­tute of Advanced Legal Stud­ies of the Uni­ver­sity of Lon­don, he has con­ducted sem­i­nars for lawyers and judges in var­i­ous coun­tries of Asia (includ­ing China and Japan), Europe and Africa. 

His mono­graphs include com­par­a­tive study of laws relat­ing to cor­rup­tion, ter­ror­ism, finan­cial ser­vices for ISS (Inter­na­tional Secu­rity Stud­ies). He is the author of fic­tion as well as pro­fes­sional legal works: The Mau­rit­ian Legal Sys­tem, the The­ory and Prac­tice of the Law of Swin­dling, The Mau­rit­ian Road Traf­fic Offences. His arti­cle on Com­par­a­tive Trust Law was pub­lished by Mil­ton Keynes, Lon­don. This work is a ref­er­ence for post­grad­u­ate stud­ies at the Uni­ver­sity of Lon­don. He has pub­lished works for Antwerp Uni­ver­sity and for World Con­sti­tu­tions. He has been a mem­ber of the United Nations Com­mit­tee Against Tor­ture and the cur­rent Chair of the Finan­cial Reg­u­lat­ing Coun­cil. 

Among the lan­guages he speaks flu­ently and writes with ease are Eng­lish and French.  His work expe­ri­ence is not lim­ited only to courts only at var­i­ous lev­els but extends to con­duct­ing ADRs, local and inter­na­tional — Early Neu­tral Eval­u­a­tion, Con­cil­i­a­tion, Nego­ti­a­tion, Medi­a­tion, Arbi­tra­tion and now Legal Con­sul­tancy at Steven & Asso­ciates Law Firm. 

• Member of the Executive Council of the International Law Association (HQ, London,UK)
• Founder and President of the International Law Association (Mauritius Branch)
• English Solicitor for the Supreme Court of England & Wales
• Member of the Rotary Club of Highlands 
• Member of the Law Society of England and Wales
• Member of the City of London Law Society
• Elected Freeman for the City of London Solicitors’ Company

Steven Sarangavany Sengayen is an influential international lawyer, a Practising English Solicitor of England & Wales, and the co-founder and managing partner of Steven & Associates International Law Firm based in Mauritius. He also holds the prestigious position of Founder and President of the International Law Association (Mauritius Branch). While his practice is based in both Mauritius and the City of London, his influence extends globally.

Educated extensively in law, Steven attained his LL.B from the University of Hull, a Pg. Dip. Legal Practice from the University of Oxford, and an LL.M in Finance and Securities Law from the University of London. His multidisciplinary education also includes a BA Hons. in Economics and Law from London Guildhall University and a Licence degree in Administration Economique et Social (AES), from the University of Paris V - Rene Descartes. In December 2014, he added an MBA Finance from the University of Bradford, School of Management, to his impressive academic portfolio.

In 2012, Steven made history as the first Mauritian citizen to be elected Freeman for the City of London Solicitors' Company. He is a recognized expert in various facets of law, including international dispute resolution, arbitrations, general litigation, and corporate, international finance and investment matters. 

Steven's expertise extends to the court system in Mauritius, where he has worked on significant appellate cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. He acts as a Privy Council Agent in Commercial and Civil Appeals and has played a key role in some of the most notable appeals in recent years.

His expertise in insolvency in Mauritius led to his selection by the World Bank Group from 2017 to this date to contribute to their Doing Business reports. In 2012, he compiled the comprehensive "Business in Mauritius 2012" report, published in the UK’s Sunday Telegraph Newspaper.

Steven is a member of the executive council of the International Law Association (ILA) and serves on the Scholarship Committee and the Foresight Panel of the ILA. He has chaired multiple committees at ILA Conferences, being the first Mauritian citizen to do so. His leadership in international law was again evident in June 2022 when he chaired the first-ever joint ILA Committees on International Monetary Law and International Financial and Securities Regulations. In June 2023, Steven co-chaired the mediation panel at the ILA Paris 150th Anniversary Conference, further highlighting his profound influence and expertise in the field of international law.

Doctor of Philosophy in Law (DPhil), University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2013)

• Master of Laws (LL.M), Harvard University, United States (2009)

• Master of Laws (LL.M), University of Calgary, Canada (2008)

• Bar Certificate (First Class Honours), Nigerian Law School, Abuja (2006)

• Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours), Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria (2005)

Bar Admissions: Nigeria (2006), Alberta, Canada (2012), Ontario, Canada (2016)

Year of Silk: 2020

Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN, FCIArb, is a Professor of petroleum, energy and environmental law at the HBKU Law School, Qatar, and chancellor’s fellow at the Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (OGEES Institute), Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. In 2020, he was appointed as an Independent Expert on the African Union’s Working Group on extractive industries, environment and human rightsviolations in Africa. A prolific and highly regarded scholar, Professor Olawuyi has published 8 books and over 100 influential peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reports on energy finance, sustainable development law and extractive resource governance. Professor Olawuyi was formerly an international energy lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, Calgary, where he served on the firm’s global committee on extractive resource investments in Africa. He has lectured on energy and environmental law in over 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Professor Olawuyi serves on the executive committees and boards of several organisations. He is Vice-Chair of the International Law Association globally.

In recognition of his "substantial contribution to legal scholarship and jurisprudence," Professor Olawuyi was awarded the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (Queen's Counsel equivalent) in the year 2020, aged thirty-seven, therefore becoming the youngest academic ever elevated to the rank. In 2021, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as a member of the Governing Board of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

He is a regular media commentator on all aspects of energy, environment and sustainable development. 

Professor Damilola is a consultant at the firm based in Doha, Qatar.