Ifeoluwa Popoola, 2024 President

Ifeoluwa Popoola Esq., assistant county attorney for the Erie County Department of Law, was born and raised in Oyo State, Nigeria. Popoola attended Obafemi Awolowo University where she earned her bachelor's degree in law in 2012. She then proceeded to the Nigerian law school Kano State for a one-year intensive Law school program, where she earned her second bachelor's degree in law in 2013, after which she became licensed to practice in Nigeria as a barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Poppola had a successful general practice for about three years before she relocated to the United States in 2016. Popoola attended Brome Community College in Binghamton, where she earned her certificate in paralegal studies, and she was on the President’s list twice. Popoola moved to Buffalo with her family in 2017 and quickly fell in love with the Buffalo legal community. She earned her juris doctorate degree from the University at Buffalo in 2019.

Popoola began her legal career in the United States as a public defender from 2020 to 2022 with the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo. She has represented hundreds of indigent criminal defendants in both misdemeanor and felony cases. Within a short time of joining the legal community in Buffalo, Popoola contributed to the welfare and advancement of both the legal community and her immediate non-legal community. She has volunteered her time as the Erie County Bar Association Young Lawyers Committee Executive Council member from 2021 to the present. She has been a volunteer pro bono attorney at the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers project since 2023, where she volunteers her time to represent immigrant families in the Buffalo area in immigration cases. In 2023, Popoola was recognized for her dedication and service to the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project with the Young Lawyer Award for 2023.

Popoola has also been a board member of the Erie County Volunteer Lawyers project from 2021 to the present. In 2020 she Joined the Minority Bar Association and became a board member as a corresponding secretary in 2021 and 2022. Popoola became the vice president/president-elect of the Minority Bar Association in 2023 and is currently the president of the association. She was a member of the Erie County Bar Association Judiciary Rating Committee in 2022, and she volunteered her time to the screening process of the judges seeking judicial rating from the Bar Association of Erie County.

Popoola was one of the delegates of the Minority Bar Association’s Criminal Justice reform task force sent to Albany during the 51st NYSABPRHAL’s Annual Legislative Conference. There, she advocated for changes in the reform to the New York State bail laws. Popoola also currently works with the Erie County Bar Association assigned counsel panel, where she represents members of her community in criminal cases in towns and village courts. Popoola is also a member of the Western New York chapter of the New York State Women’s Bar Association; she has served on that board as a local director since 2023.

The Red Flag Law (known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order law) prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing a firearm. As an assistant county attorney, Popoola leads the team that represents the Erie County Sheriff Department in trying Red Flag Law cases across the county. This is her contribution to keeping our community safe.