Nilo T DIVINA

Introduction

Nilo T Divina is a seasoned corporate and banking lawyer with over 30 years of experience. He established DivinaLaw in 2006 and has led the aggressive growth of the firm in a short span of time, making it one of the biggest law firms in the country today.

Before he entered private law practice, he was the former executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of one of the former leading banks in the Philippines. He also served as the general manager, executive adviser to the board, and corporate secretary of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Divina is the personal lawyer of some of the country’s prominent personalities in finance and business. He is likewise recognised in the Philippines as one of the top experts in commercial law and is a sought-after bar reviewer and legal consultant.

He is equally active with his roles in the academe, serving as the dean of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Faculty of Civil Law since 2009 and teaching at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

Since 2018, Divina has consistently been named among the Top 100 Lawyers in the Philippines by the Asia Business Law Journal. In 2021, he was awarded Managing Partner of the Year in the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Philippine Law Awards. He has been recognised as a Commended External Counsel (2022-2023, In House Community), Philippines Client Choice Lawyers (2021 & 2022, ALB) and Asia’s Super 50 Disputes Lawyers (2022, ALB). He also received the Gold Award – Executive of the Year (Legal) in the International Business Awards (2022), the Golden Wheel Award for Legal Practice from the Rotary International District 3780 (2024), the Silver Award – Thought Leader of the Year, and Gold Award – Achievement in Web Writing/Content for his column, “A Dose of Law” in the International Business Awards (2024).

He holds a post-graduate diploma in international tax law from the Robert Kennedy College in Switzerland. He obtained his juris doctor from the UST Faculty of Civil Law where he graduated magna cum laude and class valedictorian. He received his bachelor of arts in behavioural science from UST where he graduated cum laude.