Nilo T DIVINA

Introduction

Nilo T Divina is a seasoned corporate and banking lawyer with 35 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 Faculty of Civil Law since 2009 as well as teaching students at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

He has authored several books in commercial law that are considered as primary resource materials for law students and lawyers alike. He is a co-author of the Divina Compendious Bar Review Series (editions 2023, 2024 and 2025, CentralBooks).

Since 2018, Nilo has consistently been named among the Top 100 Lawyers in the Philippines by 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 to 2023, In House Community), Philippines Client Choice Lawyers (2021 and 2022, ALB), and Asia’s Super 50 Disputes Lawyers (2022, ALB).

He has been awarded the Golden Stevie 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 Stevie Award for Thought Leader of the Year (2024), and the Golden Stevie Award – Achievement in Web Writing/Content (2024) for his column, “A Dose of Law” from the International Business Awards. In 2025, he received the Silver Stevie Award for Thought Leader of the Year from the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. He was also recognised by the City Government of Caloocan as “Most Outstanding Public Servant” and was named among the Top 50 Influential People in the Philippines by Rising Tigers Magazine, InCharge Magazine and TopNewsAsia.

He holds a postgraduate 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 behavioral science from UST where he graduated cum laude.