Dispute Resolution

Leveraging our expertise to offer practical solutions at the right price

Overview

Conflicts present significant commercial and reputational threats to businesses. Towards disputes facing our clients, we adopt risk management, rather than a winner-takes-it-all, approach, in order to mitigate negative impacts resulting from pro-longed conflicts such as bad publicity and collapse of business relationships. Use of negotiations, mediation and other informal techniques available for resolution of trade and commercial disputes is at the core of our dispute resolution strategy. Where these techniques fail in resolving disputes, our Dispute Resolution Team is well-equipped to aggressively pursue and defend client’s interests. We have a proven track record in handling sensitive, high-value and commercially-important dispute.

Profile

Dispute Resolution is a core practice area of our Firm. It features a skilled team of lawyers with expertise and experience in Arbitration, Litigation and Mediation. With commercial, strategic and outcome-focused approach, we have assisted clients to resolve complex disputes. In addition to conducting proceedings at all levels of the court system, the Firm’s Dispute Resolution Practice leverages our multi-disciplinary sector-specific expertise to counsel and represent clients at various statutory tribunals on regulatory and licensing aspects including Communication and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal, Competition Tribunal, Energy Tribunal, Industrial Property Tribunal, National Environment Tribunal, Public Private Partnership Petition Committee, Public Procurement Review Board, Standards Tribunal and Tax Appeals Tribunal. Throughout the disputes cycle, right from their onset to settlement, we keep our client’s objectives and goals in mind and adopt strategies and approaches aimed at minimising business risks associated with adverse outcomes.

Services

We have handled disputes touching on:

  • • Administration, Insolvency and Receiverships
  • • Arbitration, both domestic and international
  • • Class Action
  • • Competition law
  • • Constitutional and Judicial Review
  • • Construction
  • • Contracts
  • • Criminal law
  • • Debt Recovery
  • • Enforcement of Bank Securities
  • • Environment
  • • Fraud
  • • Insurance
  • • Intellectual property
  • • Labour and employment disputes
  • • Procurement
  • • Property disputes
  • • Regulatory challenges
  • • Shareholder Disputes
  • • Tax Disputes
  • • Torts
Representative Transactions
  • • Arbitration: Acting as counsel in arbitration proceedings for a large group of purchasers and investors in a residential apartments development in a dispute between themselves and the developer over the control and management of the estate and transfer of reversionary interest in the property. Leveraging our sectoral expertise in real estate transactions, we obtained a favourable result for our clients in the arbitration proceedings after navigating jurisdictional challenges raised and the resulting award was recognised by the High Court of Kenya for enforcement as a Decree of the Court. The subject matter was in excess of US$3,000,000.00.

  • • Banking: Acted for an undisclosed client in the Commercial and Tax Division of the High Court, one of the largest property developers in Kenya with multiple projects running into millions of dollars, in a multi-layered dispute between the client and a financier. Our client was contesting the financier’s right to deduct without consulting the client, proceeds from sale of property and retention of several titles. Through our strategic counsel, the matter was resolved through compromise and negotiations, resulting in recording before the of a win-win, out-of-court settlement and more importantly preservation of the commercial relationship between the parties.

  • • Environment: Representing the County Government of Kajiado in judicial review proceedings at both the High Court of Kenya and the Court of Appeal where a hazardous waste management and handling company contested the legality and lawfulness of notices requiring certain actions to be taken by it for purposes of safeguarding environment integrity and standards under the Environment and Management Co-ordination Act.

  • • Intellectual Property: Acting for a well-known Kenyan Artiste in first-of-a-kind litigation relating to infringement of copyrights in our client’s musical composition where his music was converted into digital formats and offered to public for sale as Caller Ringback Tone without our client’s consent.

  • • Property: Representing a Tanzanian-headquartered Industrial Conglomerate with large business operations in East, Central and Southern African regions in a series of property disputes brought by multiple parties in various fora in Kenya, namely, the High Court, Environment and Land Court, the National Assembly of Kenya and the National Land Commission contesting ownership of a prime industrial property valued at more than US$6,000,000.00. The disputes revolved around determination of ownership rights and entitlement to receive compensation from Government of Kenya arising from compulsory acquisition of a portion of property for construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Utilising interlocutory procedures, we managed to have number of these proceedings struck out and obtained a favourable outcome, which confirmed our client’s ownership rights in the property in dispute.

  • • Tax Dispute: Acted for a party (name withheld for confidential reasons) in challenging an assessment of tax at the Tax Appeals Tribunal where the tax claimed was in excess of Kshs.200,000,000.00 including the interest and penalties. We assisted the clients in negotiating and arriving at a mutually acceptable settlement resolving what was otherwise a fundamental threat and risk to the client’s commercial survival
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