Frequently Asked Questions

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What is my role, as the client?

As the client, you will decide the general direction of your matter. As your lawyer, our job is to provide you with legal advice on the different options available to move your matter forward, including the pros, cons and costs associated with each. We will usually make a recommendation, but the final decision will be yours. We will then provide legal services necessary to carry out your instructions.

We cannot accept instructions that are in conflict with our duties to the courts, other lawyers or the public. The Code of Conduct of the Law Society of Kenya sets out the standards we as lawyers are to meet.

Two-way communication is very important in a lawyer-client relationship. Many of our lawyers communicate by email or phone. Regular contact with you is critical in order to provide updates on your matter and obtain your further instructions.

It is our goal to respond to client emails or phone calls within 1-2 business days, where applicable. We ask that our clients also respond to our emails or phone calls in a timely fashion. If we do not receive instructions from you on a matter, we are unable to continue to provide legal services on your behalf.

Certain communications between solicitor and client are absolutely confidential. This is known as “solicitor-client privilege.” Because of it, you can give your lawyer all of the facts relevant to your matter without fear that prejudicial information will become public.

Not all solicitor-client communications are privileged. The privilege only arises when the client reveals information in confidence to obtain legal advice or services. Information that you give your lawyer that is not privileged is instead treated as confidential, and, as such, may be disclosed in certain circumstances. The Law Society of Kenya’s Code of Conduct outlines the limited circumstances in which confidential information may be disclosed.

To retain a lawyer means to hire a lawyer to assist you with your legal matter. There are two parts to hiring a lawyer: a retainer letter and the payment of a retainer. Once we have been retained by you, we will provide you with a retainer letter which sets out the matter on which you have sought our services and details of the lawyer-client relationship. This includes how you will be charged for legal services, forms communication with you and assurance of confidentiality.

Many lawyers will also require the payment of a retainer before providing legal services. A retainer is essentially a down-payment on legal services, which is held in trust by our firm for you. As we perform legal services on your behalf and provide a statement of account for those services, we will draw down the retainer. Once it has been depleted, we may ask for an additional retainer if more work is required to be performed on your behalf. If your matter is resolved and there are still retainer funds being held in trust for you, the remaining funds will be returned to you.

Our statements of accounts are broken into three categories: legal fees, disbursements and other charges.

Legal fees are our charges for services and are subject to GST. Typically, legal fees are charged on an hourly rate or time basis. In determining the chargeable time for a matter, we include telephone calls, emails, meetings, preparation time, sending, receiving and reviewing correspondence, drafting documents, travel time, reviewing documents and files, research, court appearances and all time spent in providing legal services to you on the matter. We will provide you with regular statements of account which will detail the services provided to you.

Some legal services are provided at a flat-rate charge. Other services may be provided on a contingency basis, whereby our legal fee is a percentage of the amount, if any, recovered in the matter. Disbursements are payments we make to third parties for expenses incurred on your behalf. We incur these expenses as your agent. Some examples include courier charges, Land Titles Office fees, Corporate Registry fees and court filing fees. You will be responsible for paying our disbursements on your matter as well as GST, where applicable.

Other charges include charges for non-legal services, such as photocopying, printing and special stationary costs.

We maintain a separate bank account for money we hold in trust for our clients, designated as a trust account. The Law Society of Kenya has very strict standards for lawyers’ trust accounts. Trust accounts are audited annually by a professional accountant and the results of the audit are reported to the Law Society. The Law Society also conducts spot audits. In most cases, the interest on trust accounts goes to the Law Foundation of Kenya and is used for law reform and public legal education.

Yes, in some cases. limited scope representation – hiring an attorney to assist you on particular aspects of your case – may be appropriate for you. Whether it is a good option in your case could depend on the complexity of your legal matter and your financial situation. Generally, limited representation involves less cost.

While some attorneys will not work solely on portions of a case, others will agree to provide limited representation. These attorneys may be referred to as consulting attorneys, coaches or providers of unbundled legal services. Such attorneys do not take on the full responsibility for overseeing or handling your case. The limits of the representation are set by agreement. If you choose such representation, make sure you understand the extent of the attorney’s services. Such services might include, for example, assistance with a negotiation strategy, representation at a particular court hearing or the attorney’s “sign-off” on any legal agreement.

Complaint Filing
Every case begins with the filing and service of a Complaint. The Complaint will contain one or more “causes of action” such as Breach of Contract, Breach of Warranty, Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Negligence, Malpractice, Conversion, Common Counts, or Statutory Violations.

Service Of Complaint
After the Summons and Complaint have been filed with the court, they must be properly served on the defendant(s), typically by a registered process server.

Response To Complaint
The Defendant(s) have 30 days from the date of service of the Complaint to file either a General Answer to the Complaint or a Motion (Demurrer or Motion to Strike) challenging the Complaint.

Discovery
Once the Complaint and Answer have been filed both parties start a process of “discovery” of the evidence of both sides. Depending on the nature and complexity of the case, discovery methods might include, interrogatories, requests for documents and subpoenas, or depositions.

Status Conference
Throughout the case the court will set a series of Case Management, Status, Trial Setting, or Final Conferences to be attended by attorneys for all parties. These hearings are designed to determine whether the case is ready for trial.

Settlement Negotiations
Settlement negotiations may take place prior to the filing the Complaint up until trial. Often the court will request the parties schedule a Mediation or “Mandatory Settlement Conference” before the trial date. If the case does not settle, and the parties have filed all required documents, the court will set the date for trial.

Trial
If the case goes to trial, the parties attorneys will prepare a trial brief, list of witnesses and exhibits, and prepare witnesses to testify at trial.

Post-judgment
In the event that you win at trial, or by default, or by motion, or by settlement, if the other party fails to pay as ordered by the court, our office will take action to collect the award amount.