A new ranking of law firms released by The Legal 500, a London-based magazine, has placed three Kenyan law firms in Tier One category of attorneys.
The three, Iseme, Kamau and Maema Advocates (IKM), Oraro & Company Advocates, and TripleOKlaw Advocates were ranked among a small clique of elite law firms that have been in existence since independence, have the financial depth to attract and retain top talent as well as expertise in specialised areas.
“Kenya’s legal market is regarded as being one of the most sophisticated in Africa,” said the magazine.
Senior Counsel George Oraro, a senior partner at Oraro & Company Advocates, made it to the Legal 500 top tier ranking, in the field of dispute resolution for representing Telkom Kenya in a protracted labour row against more than 2,000 sacked employees.
A consent to settle the dispute out of court was entered in December 2015 and saw the retrenched employees walk away with a Sh1.8 Billion compensation.
Oraro also represented former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in 2013 after the disputed general election where the Opposition chief claimed he had been rigged out.
Fred Ojiambo, a senior partner at Kaplan & Stratton, and Aisha Abdallah of Anjarwalla & Khanna have been recognised as Kenya’s star lawyers on litigation and dispute resolution.
John Ohaga and James Oduol, partners at TripleOKlaw, were ranked among top litigators in employment matters — singling them out for successfully defending Kenya Airways against a redundancy claim from 447 employees laid off by the national carrier.
