Chinyere Okorocha is a Partner at Jackson, Etti & Edu and one of Nigeria’s leading Intellectual Property and Health & Pharmaceuticals lawyers, with over 34 years of post qualification experience. Widely recognised for her expertise in Intellectual Property, healthcare law, and sector-focused legal advisory, she has built a distinguished career advising multinational corporations, indigenous businesses, healthcare institutions, pharmaceutical companies, innovators, and investors across Nigeria and Africa.
A founding member of Jackson, Etti & Edu (formerly Etti, Edu & Co.), Chinyere played a pivotal role in establishing and growing the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice into one of the most respected on the continent. She currently serves as the firm’s Sector Head for Health & Pharmaceuticals, where she leads a multidisciplinary team providing commercially focused legal and business advisory services across healthcare regulation, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, digital health, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, corporate transactions, licensing, data protection, governance, and other sector-specific matters.
She also serves as Head of Sectors at Jackson, Etti & Edu, providing strategic leadership for the firm’s six industry sectors. In this role, she drives sector strategy, promotes cross-practice collaboration, strengthens client engagement, and ensures the firm’s legal solutions remain closely aligned with emerging industry trends and business realities.
Beyond private practice, Chinyere is widely respected for her leadership within the legal and healthcare communities. She served as Chairperson of the Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum from 2022 to 2024, where she led transformational reforms, expanded the Forum’s national footprint, introduced its first Operational Manual and Leadership Retreat, and championed initiatives aimed at increasing the visibility and advancement of women within the legal profession.
She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), having served as Treasurer from 2022 to 2025 and currently as Publicity Secretary. Through these roles, she continues to contribute to policy conversations and initiatives that strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem.
Chinyere’s professional excellence has earned her numerous local and international recognitions. She has consistently been ranked by Chambers Global, Managing Intellectual Property (IP STARS), World Trademark Review (WTR 1000), and Who’s Who Legal. She was recognised by BusinessDay as one of Nigeria’s 20 Outstanding Women in Business Law and was previously nominated among Nigeria’s 50 Most Influential Women in the Legal Profession. Most recently, she was nominated for the Practitioner of the Year (Africa & Middle East) award at the 2026 Life Sciences Awards, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to healthcare and life sciences legal practice.
Passionate about developing the next generation of female leaders, Chinyere is the Founder of Heels & Ladders, a career acceleration platform dedicated to equipping ambitious women with the mindset, strategies, and practical tools required for career success. Through this platform, she has mentored hundreds of women across diverse professions.
She is also the creator of the Career Acceleration Mentorship (CAM) Course, a structured career development programme designed to help professionals accelerate their growth through intentional career planning, executive presence, personal branding, strategic networking, leadership development, and career positioning.
In 2026, Chinyere published her first book, Heels & Ladders: A Career Acceleration Handbook for Female Professionals, a practical guide that distils over three decades of professional experience into actionable insights for women seeking to build successful and fulfilling careers. The book has further established her as a respected thought leader on women’s leadership, career advancement, and professional development.
A sought-after keynote speaker, moderator, mentor, and leadership coach, Chinyere regularly speaks at legal, healthcare, corporate, and leadership conferences on topics including intellectual property, healthcare regulation, leadership, career acceleration, women’s advancement, mentorship, and professional excellence.
Her life’s work is driven by a simple but powerful conviction: that excellence, continuous learning, strategic relationships, and intentional leadership can unlock extraordinary opportunities. Through her legal practice, mentoring, writing, and speaking engagements, she remains committed to helping organisations succeed and empowering professionals, particularly women, to realise their full potential.
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