a. Delivery of value-adding legal services
We have built our practice around three principle values – excellence in all that we do, teamwork with colleagues and clients and leadership including though leadership. We understand the value of a quick excellent response that comes from working together with our clients and looking beyond the literal translation of the law to understanding the challenges that our clients are faced with in the environment that they operate in.
b. Advocate – client relationship
We realize the magnitude of trust bestowed upon us by our clients’’ whenever we receive instructions to either act on their behalf, offer
advisory services or otherwise execute our clients instructions, and in so
doing we strive to attain and maintain the highest levels of professionalism and also to adopt globally acceptable best practices as follows;
I. Principal – Agent relationship
We realize that we act on behalf of our clients as their agents and in maintaining this equilibrium:
a) We keep our clients abreast of all developments in their files.
b) We copy all out going third party correspondences to our clients, and forward to them all incoming third party correspondence for their input, information and records;
c) We respond to all correspondence received from our clients within twenty-four to forty-eight ours of receipt thereof;
d) Contingent upon the urgency of the query, we retort by way of written mail or e-mail or by way of facsimile or where appropriate, an immediate phone call;
e) We also engage in general informative correspondences with our clients to allay fears and update them on any changes or to explain any apparent progress.
f) In additions to the above, for our corporate clients, we periodically produce status reports for all files. The status reports are in-depth detail, listing the files, the activities undertaken therein, the current status of the file and the next step to be undertaken and also any glitches/difficulties being experienced. In this manner our clients are well versed in the progress of their interests.
II. Open Door Police
In addition to honouring appointments made with clients, we operate an open-door policy, whereby our clients can come to the firm at any moment of need, and see the concerned advocate, or otherwise call up the concerned advocate. We appreciate that the nature of an advocate’s work is such that we cannot afford to be off-call/restrictive, as our clients may need our assistance by short notice, and thus flexibility is of the essence to us.
III. Confidentiality
We hold advocate-client communications sacrosanct and we strive to promote and protect the inviolability of this reposed confidence. It is our chief aim to see to it that our clients freely communicate with us without an iota of doubt as to whether or not confidential information, whether of a personal, financial or controversial nature will be exposed.
IV. Client’s Responsibility
Whenever we are carrying out work:
a) It remains our client’s responsibility to provide us with complete, accurate and timely information where we have requested this and to carry out any other obligations ascribed to them or others under their control. We are not responsible for any consequences which may arise from any delay or failure by a client to do so and these may also result in additional fees if further work is required by us as a result.
b) We normally do not seek to verify or check any information provided to us by a client or by others on a client’s behalf. The client acknowledges that we will be entitled to rely on such information when providing our services.
c) The client remains responsible for any decisions made and regard must be had to the restrictions on the scope of our work and to the large number of other factors, commercial and otherwise, of which the client is or should be aware by means other than our work.
V. Storage Of Papers And Documents
Where we receive on behalf of the client certificates or other documents evidencing title to investments or other valuable documents, we will retain these in safe custody unless such client direct us otherwise. Also:
a) We are entitled to exercise a lien over papers and documents for pending costs, but which remedy we only rely upon if all negotiation and amicable resolution fails.
b) We will keep our file of papers for atleast six years (6) after the date of the final bill, as required by law, and any longer period is simply driven by courtesy and prudence.
c) We will not destroy documents that a client asks us to deposit in safe custody.
VI. Termination of services
This can be done as follows:
a) A client may terminate instructions to us in writing at any time, but we will be entitled to keep all the client papers and documents while there is money owing to us for charges and expenses.
b) We may decide to stop acting for a client only with good reason, for example, if they should fail to pay a bill or comply with our request for a payment on account, or if the client cannot or does not afford us clear or proper instructions on how we are to proceed, or if it is clear to us that the client has lost con confidence in how we are carrying out their work. Even in such circumstances, we endevour to give a reasonable notice of the intent to stop acting for a client.
c) In the event of termination by either party, the client must pay our costs as set out earlier.
VII. Client Money
The Law Society of Kenya has specific rules covering the way in which we handle client money and these are detailed and strict.
a) We cannot usually pay out any money on a client’s behalf until we are in possession of cleared funds. We must therefore receive any cheques at least seven days before any money is to be paid out on behalf of a client.
b) Similarly, if we receive any cheques for a client, these have to be cleared through our bank before we can pay the client.
VIII. Professional Undertaking
Since we are agents of our clients and not the principal when carrying out work, we will not assume our client’s financial and or other obligations and in so doing issue undertakings on their behalf until we are in possession of cleared funds from our client, or otherwise have in our possession the titles and documents that we have undertaken to act upon, release or otherwise deal with in escrow.
IX. Foreign Lawyers
From time to time, we may use the services of foreign lawyers to assist us in providing services to a client.
a) When we use the services of these lawyers, we instruct these other firms as agents of the client; and the client is therefore treated as having engaged these other firms independently and is liable for their fees in addition to any fees charged by us for the work which we carry out on their behalf.
b) The client assumes liability for the activities of foreign lawyers which we appoint on their behalf.
c) Where any claim relates to services provided by any foreign lawyers, the client agrees to direct such claim against the relevant foreign lawyers for whom this firm shall have no liability.
X. Complaints
If clients have any problem with the service we have provided, then we request them to alert us. We undertake to try to resolve any problem quickly and operate an internal complaint handling system to help us to resolve the problem between ourselves. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us, then we are regulated by the Law Society of Kenya which also provides a complaint and redress scheme, details of which will be provided to the client upon request.
PROFESSIONAL FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS
a. Basis of fees
Unless the letter confirming our acceptance of the client’s instructions to act provides otherwise;
i. We adhere to the guiding scales set out in the Advocates REMUNERATION (Amendment) Order of 2006 and may also take into account, notable complexity value and importance of the work to be carried out.
ii. In all other cases not expressly provided for in the guiding scales set out in the Advocates Remuneration (Amendment) Order of 2006, our fees will be charged on the basis of time spent at the appropriate rate for the relevant grade of staff and will reflect such factors as complexity, monetary values and specialist input, and will take into account urgency and inherent risks and the use of techniques, expertise, research and know-how developed within the firm.
b. Travel
If our partners or staff are required to work away from home for extended periods, we will have flexibility in the way we divide their time between the client’s sites and their home base. Travel time, other than time spent travelling from a local residence to the normal place of work, may be charged at the standard hourly rate.
c. Fee Estimates
Any fee estimate given by us, whether for planning or other purpose, will be given in good faith but will be subject to the stated caveats and assumptions and to any factors outside our control and is not contractually binding. We will notify the client, before proceeding with any further work, if it reasonably becomes apparent that the estimate is likely to be materially exceeded.
d. Expenses
All charges are stated exclusive of expense unless the letter confirming our acceptance of the client’s instructions to act states otherwise. The client is to pay stamp duty, search fees, agent’s fees and all other disbursements such as our travel, accommodation, subsistence and other reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the services.
e. Taxes
Charges, including expenses, will be stated exclusive of any taxes. The client will be responsible for paying any taxes arising from the contract for which the client is legally liable. Value added tax at the applicable rate, presently 16%, is chargeable on fees and most disbursements (other than stamp duty and government fees). Quotations and estimates do not include value added tax unless expressly stated.
f. Periodic Charging
Interim bills may be submitted to the client at appropriate intervals during the course of a matter at our discretion.
i. Any estimates of cots are given for guidance only on the basis of information then known to us and are not to be regarded as quotations the client should note that it is often not possible to estimate costs accurately in advance.
ii. Any hourly rates quoted are indicative only. We reserve the right to adjust our fees to take into account the value, importance, complexity and urgency of the matter and any unforeseen circumstances including any volatility in inflation or exchange rates.
g. Payment
We may at any time required from the client a deposit on account of anticipated cots and disbursements.
i. We shall have the right to appropriate the deposit to defray disbursements incurred on the client’s behalf or to pay interim bills. However, deposits are, in the normal way, to be held against payment of the final account to be rendered to the Client and the client is expected to settle interim bills without resort to the deposit.
ii. Our bills are due and payable on delivery. Any queries concerning an invoice should be raised within 30 days of the invoice date with any undisputed amounts remaining payable by the due date.
iii. In the event of late payment we reserve the right to suspend the provision of legal services and to charge interest on any sum unpaid one month after the date of delivery of a bill at the rate prescribed under the Advocates Remuneration Order.
h. Partial transactions and uncompleted work
If a transaction or other matter does not proceed to completion our fees (together with VAT )and disbursements are still payable. Any special fee agreed for a matter does not cover additional work not identified when the arrangement was agreed.
i. Litigation
The client is liable in any event for our fees and expenses in full, whether the client wins or looses the case. If the client is successful in any litigation, it may be that the client will be entitled to an order for payment of the client’s costs by another party. Such an award is in the discretion of the court. The client should note that costs recoverable from other parties will, at best, represent only a small proportion of the costs payable by the client. The client will be personally liable to us for the client’s costs regardless of any order made against the client’s opponent and whether or not the opponent pays any costs awarded in the client’s favour. If the client loses proceedings, the client will probably have to pay some of the client’s opponent’s costs as well as the client’s own.
REPRESENTATIONS IN OTHER LOCATIONS
a) We have put in place an effective arrangement with lawyers in all major towns in Kenya including Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, Machakos and Nyeri who are useful particularly in attending to matters that do not require our personal attention.
b) We have an international network of contacts of law firms in East Africa, and are still establishing more contacts with law firms in major countries in Africa and also major cities of the world including in the context of globalization and regional integration.
We hope that the foregoing information meets your requirements. However, if you require any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We look forward to working with you for mutual benefit.
We have built our practice around three principle values – excellence in all that we do, teamwork with colleagues and clients and leadership including though leadership. We understand the value of a quick excellent response that comes from working together with our clients and looking beyond the literal translation of the law to understanding the challenges that our clients are faced with in the environment that they operate in.
b. Advocate – client relationship
We realize the magnitude of trust bestowed upon us by our clients’’ whenever we receive instructions to either act on their behalf, offer
advisory services or otherwise execute our clients instructions, and in so
doing we strive to attain and maintain the highest levels of professionalism and also to adopt globally acceptable best practices as follows;
I. Principal – Agent relationship
We realize that we act on behalf of our clients as their agents and in maintaining this equilibrium:
a) We keep our clients abreast of all developments in their files.
b) We copy all out going third party correspondences to our clients, and forward to them all incoming third party correspondence for their input, information and records;
c) We respond to all correspondence received from our clients within twenty-four to forty-eight ours of receipt thereof;
d) Contingent upon the urgency of the query, we retort by way of written mail or e-mail or by way of facsimile or where appropriate, an immediate phone call;
e) We also engage in general informative correspondences with our clients to allay fears and update them on any changes or to explain any apparent progress.
f) In additions to the above, for our corporate clients, we periodically produce status reports for all files. The status reports are in-depth detail, listing the files, the activities undertaken therein, the current status of the file and the next step to be undertaken and also any glitches/difficulties being experienced. In this manner our clients are well versed in the progress of their interests.
II. Open Door Police
In addition to honouring appointments made with clients, we operate an open-door policy, whereby our clients can come to the firm at any moment of need, and see the concerned advocate, or otherwise call up the concerned advocate. We appreciate that the nature of an advocate’s work is such that we cannot afford to be off-call/restrictive, as our clients may need our assistance by short notice, and thus flexibility is of the essence to us.
III. Confidentiality
We hold advocate-client communications sacrosanct and we strive to promote and protect the inviolability of this reposed confidence. It is our chief aim to see to it that our clients freely communicate with us without an iota of doubt as to whether or not confidential information, whether of a personal, financial or controversial nature will be exposed.
IV. Client’s Responsibility
Whenever we are carrying out work:
a) It remains our client’s responsibility to provide us with complete, accurate and timely information where we have requested this and to carry out any other obligations ascribed to them or others under their control. We are not responsible for any consequences which may arise from any delay or failure by a client to do so and these may also result in additional fees if further work is required by us as a result.
b) We normally do not seek to verify or check any information provided to us by a client or by others on a client’s behalf. The client acknowledges that we will be entitled to rely on such information when providing our services.
c) The client remains responsible for any decisions made and regard must be had to the restrictions on the scope of our work and to the large number of other factors, commercial and otherwise, of which the client is or should be aware by means other than our work.
V. Storage Of Papers And Documents
Where we receive on behalf of the client certificates or other documents evidencing title to investments or other valuable documents, we will retain these in safe custody unless such client direct us otherwise. Also:
a) We are entitled to exercise a lien over papers and documents for pending costs, but which remedy we only rely upon if all negotiation and amicable resolution fails.
b) We will keep our file of papers for atleast six years (6) after the date of the final bill, as required by law, and any longer period is simply driven by courtesy and prudence.
c) We will not destroy documents that a client asks us to deposit in safe custody.
VI. Termination of services
This can be done as follows:
a) A client may terminate instructions to us in writing at any time, but we will be entitled to keep all the client papers and documents while there is money owing to us for charges and expenses.
b) We may decide to stop acting for a client only with good reason, for example, if they should fail to pay a bill or comply with our request for a payment on account, or if the client cannot or does not afford us clear or proper instructions on how we are to proceed, or if it is clear to us that the client has lost con confidence in how we are carrying out their work. Even in such circumstances, we endevour to give a reasonable notice of the intent to stop acting for a client.
c) In the event of termination by either party, the client must pay our costs as set out earlier.
VII. Client Money
The Law Society of Kenya has specific rules covering the way in which we handle client money and these are detailed and strict.
a) We cannot usually pay out any money on a client’s behalf until we are in possession of cleared funds. We must therefore receive any cheques at least seven days before any money is to be paid out on behalf of a client.
b) Similarly, if we receive any cheques for a client, these have to be cleared through our bank before we can pay the client.
VIII. Professional Undertaking
Since we are agents of our clients and not the principal when carrying out work, we will not assume our client’s financial and or other obligations and in so doing issue undertakings on their behalf until we are in possession of cleared funds from our client, or otherwise have in our possession the titles and documents that we have undertaken to act upon, release or otherwise deal with in escrow.
IX. Foreign Lawyers
From time to time, we may use the services of foreign lawyers to assist us in providing services to a client.
a) When we use the services of these lawyers, we instruct these other firms as agents of the client; and the client is therefore treated as having engaged these other firms independently and is liable for their fees in addition to any fees charged by us for the work which we carry out on their behalf.
b) The client assumes liability for the activities of foreign lawyers which we appoint on their behalf.
c) Where any claim relates to services provided by any foreign lawyers, the client agrees to direct such claim against the relevant foreign lawyers for whom this firm shall have no liability.
X. Complaints
If clients have any problem with the service we have provided, then we request them to alert us. We undertake to try to resolve any problem quickly and operate an internal complaint handling system to help us to resolve the problem between ourselves. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us, then we are regulated by the Law Society of Kenya which also provides a complaint and redress scheme, details of which will be provided to the client upon request.
PROFESSIONAL FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS
a. Basis of fees
Unless the letter confirming our acceptance of the client’s instructions to act provides otherwise;
i. We adhere to the guiding scales set out in the Advocates REMUNERATION (Amendment) Order of 2006 and may also take into account, notable complexity value and importance of the work to be carried out.
ii. In all other cases not expressly provided for in the guiding scales set out in the Advocates Remuneration (Amendment) Order of 2006, our fees will be charged on the basis of time spent at the appropriate rate for the relevant grade of staff and will reflect such factors as complexity, monetary values and specialist input, and will take into account urgency and inherent risks and the use of techniques, expertise, research and know-how developed within the firm.
b. Travel
If our partners or staff are required to work away from home for extended periods, we will have flexibility in the way we divide their time between the client’s sites and their home base. Travel time, other than time spent travelling from a local residence to the normal place of work, may be charged at the standard hourly rate.
c. Fee Estimates
Any fee estimate given by us, whether for planning or other purpose, will be given in good faith but will be subject to the stated caveats and assumptions and to any factors outside our control and is not contractually binding. We will notify the client, before proceeding with any further work, if it reasonably becomes apparent that the estimate is likely to be materially exceeded.
d. Expenses
All charges are stated exclusive of expense unless the letter confirming our acceptance of the client’s instructions to act states otherwise. The client is to pay stamp duty, search fees, agent’s fees and all other disbursements such as our travel, accommodation, subsistence and other reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the services.
e. Taxes
Charges, including expenses, will be stated exclusive of any taxes. The client will be responsible for paying any taxes arising from the contract for which the client is legally liable. Value added tax at the applicable rate, presently 16%, is chargeable on fees and most disbursements (other than stamp duty and government fees). Quotations and estimates do not include value added tax unless expressly stated.
f. Periodic Charging
Interim bills may be submitted to the client at appropriate intervals during the course of a matter at our discretion.
i. Any estimates of cots are given for guidance only on the basis of information then known to us and are not to be regarded as quotations the client should note that it is often not possible to estimate costs accurately in advance.
ii. Any hourly rates quoted are indicative only. We reserve the right to adjust our fees to take into account the value, importance, complexity and urgency of the matter and any unforeseen circumstances including any volatility in inflation or exchange rates.
g. Payment
We may at any time required from the client a deposit on account of anticipated cots and disbursements.
i. We shall have the right to appropriate the deposit to defray disbursements incurred on the client’s behalf or to pay interim bills. However, deposits are, in the normal way, to be held against payment of the final account to be rendered to the Client and the client is expected to settle interim bills without resort to the deposit.
ii. Our bills are due and payable on delivery. Any queries concerning an invoice should be raised within 30 days of the invoice date with any undisputed amounts remaining payable by the due date.
iii. In the event of late payment we reserve the right to suspend the provision of legal services and to charge interest on any sum unpaid one month after the date of delivery of a bill at the rate prescribed under the Advocates Remuneration Order.
h. Partial transactions and uncompleted work
If a transaction or other matter does not proceed to completion our fees (together with VAT )and disbursements are still payable. Any special fee agreed for a matter does not cover additional work not identified when the arrangement was agreed.
i. Litigation
The client is liable in any event for our fees and expenses in full, whether the client wins or looses the case. If the client is successful in any litigation, it may be that the client will be entitled to an order for payment of the client’s costs by another party. Such an award is in the discretion of the court. The client should note that costs recoverable from other parties will, at best, represent only a small proportion of the costs payable by the client. The client will be personally liable to us for the client’s costs regardless of any order made against the client’s opponent and whether or not the opponent pays any costs awarded in the client’s favour. If the client loses proceedings, the client will probably have to pay some of the client’s opponent’s costs as well as the client’s own.
REPRESENTATIONS IN OTHER LOCATIONS
a) We have put in place an effective arrangement with lawyers in all major towns in Kenya including Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Eldoret, Machakos and Nyeri who are useful particularly in attending to matters that do not require our personal attention.
b) We have an international network of contacts of law firms in East Africa, and are still establishing more contacts with law firms in major countries in Africa and also major cities of the world including in the context of globalization and regional integration.
We hope that the foregoing information meets your requirements. However, if you require any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We look forward to working with you for mutual benefit.
