Dispute Resolution

Our Dispute Resolution Team provides competent and experienced civil litigation and out of court (alternative) dispute resolution services to the Firm’s clients. The team has developed a specialty in commercial, civil and public law litigation in various forms. We appear before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Industrial Court, the Business Premises Rent Tribunal, the Public Procurement Administrative Review Board, the Competition Authority and the nascent Public Private Partnerships Petition Committee. We also take up cases in the lower courts if it is cost efficient for our clients to do so.

We have considerable experience in the following areas:

• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law Issues including Shareholder Disputes, Mergers and Restructurings
• Banking, Debt Recovery and Securities Enforcement Litigation
• Insurance
• Intellectual Property
• Receiverships, Liquidation and other Insolvency Litigation
• Review of Administrative Actions
• Arbitration and Contractual Disputes
• Tribunals/Quasi-Judicial Bodies
• Constitutional and Judicial Review Litigation
• Tort and Insurance Litigation
• Mining & Commercial Property
• Employment
• Commissions of Inquiry
• International Asset Recovery

With the growth of our corporate and commercial work, our Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice has become increasingly busy with a commensurate expansion of the department.

The Dispute Resolution Team undertakes matters ranging from complex company law disputes and commercial issues to debt recovery and insolvency. We have acted for the major Kenyan banks in complex and heavily disputed receivership and insolvency matters, initiated proceedings against the government and various regulatory authorities on behalf of clients whose substantial contracts or commercial activities have been affected by government or regulatory action, handled complex arbitration, and undertaken difficult enforcement of securities and debt recovery. Additionally, our lawyers have also advised and acted for major clients in employment disputes and acted for insurance companies in tort litigation.

Competence, efficiency, determination and integrity are what we strive for in our approach to clients’ litigation matters. Litigation may be a difficult experience for clients, particularly in the context of Kenya’s judicial system. We always seek to give realistic advice and assessments as to litigation proceedings. We advise from the initial potential dispute situation, to negotiating and preventive stages, the start of the proceedings, trial and beyond. Alternative dispute resolution is also always considered and explored with our clients as a faster means of resolving contentious matters.

Indicative Work Experience

• Successfully obtaining interim measures of protection, against the Kenya National Highways Authority, in relation to the attempted termination of a road contract worth KES 2,505,924,536.66 awarded to one of the Firm’s corporate clients – Vil Limited.
• Successfully representing the East African Portland Cement Company Limited in regard to allegations that it engaged in restrictive trade practices as defined under the Competition Act of Kenya.
• Prosecuting a land dispute at the Malindi High Court in relation to a high worth beach front property belonging to  Madeteni Limited.
• Advising the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) on the implications and avenues of redress in response to a highly publicized notice by the NGO Co-Ordination Board directing IFES to cease all operations in Kenya and directing various agencies to freeze its bank accounts and review the immigration status of its employees.
• Successfully representing the International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI), a leading international port developer and operator, in a dispute relating to the Selection of the Concessionaire for Phase 1 of the Second Container Terminal Port of Mombasa, Kenya.
• Acting for the petitioning creditor in proceedings for the winding up of a listed retail company which historically had difficulty paying its suppliers and had faced repeated threats of liquidation.
• Acting for a petitioning creditor in the winding up of Karuturi Limited (once the largest flower farm in Kenya).
• Acting for Baobab Beach Resort & Spa in a constitutional petition before the Court of Appeal.
• Acting for an international professional body that had been sued for allegedly breaching the applicant’s constitutional rights by subjecting him to the oversight and regulation of the professional body without consideration of the fact that another professional body regulating the applicant is alleged to have sanctioned the applicant.
• Successfully representing the De La Rue Group of Companies in a suit where certain parties sought to prevent it from entering into an agreement with the Kenya Government in respect of the printing of new generation currency notes.
• Opposing an Agency Notice issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority in respect of tens of millions of Kenya Shillings allegedly owed by one of the Firm’s clients – Twiga Chemical Industries Limited.
• Successfully defending the Salvation Army and nine other Defendants against a KES 300 million claim which was reduced to KES 3 million by the High Court.
• Successfully challenged, by way of constitutional petition, disciplinary proceedings brought against a doctor before the Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board.
• Representing a reputable oil company in a land dispute.