Practice Areas
Practice Areas
Banking – Commerce requires new approaches every time and borrowers and lenders prefer their advisers to be novel in their thinking as well as practical in their approach. We understand the banking and finance sector. We act for major banks, finance providers and lenders in Kenya and the East Africa Region in the areas of;
- General lending;
- Project finance;
- Real Estate Finance;
- Asset Finance;
- Asset Management;
- Securitization;
- Insolvency;
- Restructuring;
- Banking and Finance disputes;
We are well versed with the Central Bank of Kenya Prudential Guidelines and other relevant legislation and policies applicable to the banking sector. We also understand the functions and working of central banks, national treasuries, deposit insurance schemes and other key institutional mechanisms in the banking sector. As a result we are able to provide insightful and thoroughly researched advice on all legal and compliance aspects of banking and financial services
Insurance – We also advise on all aspects of insurance and reinsurance law, whether corporate, regulatory or contentious. We continue to consistently advice major insurance companies and the regulatory body on compliance and international best practice.
Telecommunication – We advise entities on telecoms privatisations and licensing, telecoms capital markets, telecoms financing, regulation and competition compliance in the telecoms sector in Kenya and the East Africa region.
We work closely with our clients to develop appropriate property and corporate strategies, identifying the financial needs of our client’s property projects or their corporate finance requirements, and package bankable proposals for potential financiers and investors.
We advise our local and international clients on complex transactions. The depth of our experience means that we advise our clients from business formation through the stages of the company life-cycle and the transactions that they engage in including obtaining permits.
The firm has expertise in drafting and negotiating various business contracts and agreements, including distribution, procurement, general terms and conditions of sale or purchase.
Our Firm undertakes the following services in connection with registration and compliance support of business and non-business entities:
Due diligence – carrying out official searches on business and non-business entities.
Registration – undertaking the registration of the following types of entities:
- Partnership;
- Limited Liability Partnership (LLP);
- Private Company Limited by Shares;
- Public Company Limited by Shares;
- Company Limited by Guarantee with a Share Capital;
- Company Limited by Guarantee without a Share Capital;
- Unlimited Company;
- Public Benefits Organization (PBO);
- Society;
- Social Welfare Association;
- Trust;
- Foundation;
Compliance – guidance on ongoing compliance with registration requirements.
The Firm has a well-established in criminal and commercial litigation department supported by strong teams of legal associates. The teams are progressively equipping with the strategies, knowledge and expertise in litigation, particularly, in commercial matters. We offer the full range of services, with teams specialising in civil litigation, commercial litigation local and international jurisdictions;
- Commercial Transactions
- Family law (Divorce, Children -custody and maintenance, Matrimonial Property & Succession)
- Environment & Land law
- Employment and Labour relations
- Energy & Infrastructure disputes
- Construction
- Intellectual Property
- Insurance law
- Mediation and Arbitration
Our litigation and commercial teams understand that employees are the heart of all our clients business, and that they can be the greatest resource but also the greatest risk. Post the 2010 Constitution, Industrial disputes in Kenya have been on the rise, the average employee in Kenya is conscious of his legal rights and will not hesitate to stand up to his employer to defend or protect his rights. We partner with our clients, to find solutions and manage risk in relation to their employment contract, employment practices, pre and post H.R planning, incentives, pensions legal challenges and objectives.
Our services include:
- Provision of legal advice in the areas of labour and employment law and related matters;
- Client representation in CBA negotiations, conciliations, mediations, and other dispute resolutions forums;
- Client representation in the Industrial court and other judicial forums;
- Assisting clients synchronize their Human resource policies and practices with labour legislations and other related statutory provisions including Work Injury Benefits Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Industrial Training Act.
We also specialise in employee benefits and all types of employee share scheme and cash bonus arrangements. We have advised a variety of multinationals on introducing global share schemes involving Kenyan aspects. Our team is well versed with the retirement benefits legislation and has advised several large listed and unlisted public companies on their employee pension and provident schemes.
Our team is strategically placed in leading practices in energy project development and finance, governmental energy funding, public private partnerships, and venture capital and emerging company representation in the power generation sector. Our reputation is built on our long experience of advising companies, governments and financiers coupled with excellent industry knowledge having worked with several energy companies.
We advise regularly on domestic and international projects across all areas of the energy industry, covering upstream project development, pipelines, LPG projects, wind power projects, refineries, petrochemicals, and renewable energy. We are also involved at the cutting edge of emerging energy initiatives such as biofuels.
Our areas of specialisation in this field cover:
- Project Finance
- Energy Company and Project M&A
- Tax planning in relation to energy project financing
- Energy Regulatory, Licensing and Permitting
- Energy Company Insolvency and Restructuring
- Energy Regulation and Litigation
Given the global nature and increasing importance of environmental and health and safety law, these areas are becoming an increasing focus of the firm’s activities. Our environmental law team is dynamic, with demonstrated commercial legal skills. We provide an efficient service and pragmatic advice to a wide array of clients, both in the public and private sectors. We have extensive experience in issues relating to environmental risk for businesses, legal issues relating to energy, property development and general commercial activity.
Our lawyers specialising in environmental law support our mergers & acquisitions, finance and litigation teams in all aspects including environmental risk, environmental auditing and due diligence studies.
We advise clients in relation to investigations and prosecutions by statutory authorities. We are experienced in representing clients both in the tribunal level and court level.
Our Firm has a full-service property department specialising in commercial property and conveyancing. We focus on development, investment planning and real estate dispute resolution providing advice across the full spectrum of the commercial and residential property industry.
We act for individuals, institutional investors, overseas investors, and for property companies in all aspects of property investment (both direct and indirect). We also offer real estate management services for several property developers.
We have a wealth of experience in all legal services related to property transactions and land law in Kenya, including the following:
- Mortgages;
- Charges;
- Chattels;
- General Commercial Contracts;
- Wills;
- Caveats and Cautions;
- Transfers;
- Assignments;
- Leases and extension of leases;
- Guarantees;
- Sub-division and amalgamation of land;
- Easements;
- Change of User
We also act for property developers, owners and tenants in preparing and utilizing instruments for creating and transferring interest in real property and to ensure certainty of a clean title.
This includes:
Due diligence – carrying out official property searches and site visits;
Registration – supporting in negotiating and structuring property acquisitions and disposals and executing the process of transfer of property.
We provide comprehensive intellectual property advisory, registration and enforcement services.
Our team has extensive expertise in intellectual property law and we help our clients in the registration of trade- marks, trade names, service marks, industrial designs, utility models, patents and copyright. Our services include,
- Provision of advice on Intellectual Property protection in Kenya, and also in the East African and COMESA countries, and
under the OAPI and Madrid regimes. - Registration and renewal of Intellectual Property protection involving Trademarks, Patents, Industrial Designs, Copyright and Registered User Licenses under the Kenyan regime.
- Registrations and renewal of Trademarks under OAPI and Madrid systems.
- Registration and renewal of trademarks in any East African and COMMESA countries in liaison with our affiliated lawyers
- Registration of Intellectual Property assignments
- Handling opposition against registration of offending trademarks and fighting opposition against our clients’ marks.
- Representing clients before the Registrar of trademarks, the courts and other bodies.
The Partners are well-established in criminal and commercial litigation counsel and are supported by strong teams of legal associates. The teams are progressively equipping with the strategies, knowledge and expertise in litigation, particularly, in commercial matters. Our litigation services include:
- Client representation in areas of commercial and admiralty matters;
- Court representation on tax related matters;
- Public interest litigation;
- Enforcement of the fundamental rights and freedoms;
- Representations on actions intended to challenge decisions of administrative bodies;
- Full spectrum representation on all areas of civil litigation;
- Representation of clients on criminal matters;
- Other litigation services;
- Representation on labour and employment disputes in the Industrial Court;
Our Firm is well established as experts in tax law. We provide an array of tax services ranging from basics like tax registrations to complex matters such as tax litigation at the various Tax Appeals Tribunals and in Court. Our tax services include:
- Provision of in-depth legal advice on tax law in Kenya as well as a general overview of the tax law in East Africa to enable you to make informed business decisions regardless of the sector your business lies;
- Provision of advice on how to structure businesses and investments or package transactions so as to minimize tax liability within the provisions of the law;
- Providing legal representation in the tax appeals Tribunals and the Courts on related matters;
- Providing advice on tax implications of intended/proposed transactions;
- Handling dispute resolutions on tax related matters;
- Handling opposition against registration of offending trademarks and fighting opposition against our clients’ marks.
- Offering representation where a tax payer has been charged with a tax offence;
- Provision of advice on tax compliance.