Thursday 23rd February 2012

29TH OCTOBER 2010

Sebalu & Lule forms alliances with Juris East Africa and DLA Piper

     

    - Inauguration of Juris East Africa

    - Sebalu & Lule now Recognised/Preferred Law Firm of DLA Piper in Uganda

THE British High Commissioner to Uganda, His Excellency Martin Shearman, has lauded an exclusive legal alliance formed by four leading law firms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda at the inaugurating event held on October 28 at Kampala's Serena Hotel.

Juris East Africa is an alliance of Uganda's Sebalu & Lule Advocates, Kenya's Iseme, Kamau and Maema (IK&M) Advocates, Tanzania's Ishengoma Karume Masha and Magai (IMMMA) Advocates and Rwanda's Equity Juris Chambers designed to share expertise and resources and, notably, enhance cross-border legal practice across the region. The alliance is the first of its kind in East Africa and combines four law firms that enjoy top-rating in their respective countries.

The inaugurating dinner also saw the admission of Sebalu & Lule Advocates as DLA Piper's Recognized/Preferred Firm in Uganda. The London-headquarted DLA Piper is one of the world's largest practices in the world with over 3,500 lawyers practising in 67 officers strewn across the United States of America, Europe, Asia and Africa. DLA had earlier established exclusive alliances with IK&M Advocates and IMMA Advocates. Sebalu & Lule is projected to attain full-scale membership of the DLA Piper network within a year.

“Significant developments like the coming into force of the East African Common Market have created a new mode of doing business all across the world,” Mr. Shearman, who was the Guest of Honour at the function, remarked during his speech. “East Africa is witnessing opportunities for business and investment not just from Britain but from across the globe. East Africa is (also) now perceived as bloc, a market of over 120 million people. This is why this alliance (Juris East Africa) is so important in as far as it will facilitate business and also enable investors to access this market.”

The World Bank estimates that that East Africa will receive new investments in excess of US$125m over the next five years. This is a seen as a direct effect of the creation of the Common Market which has created a market of around 126 million people and is expected to act as a catalyst for fresh investment in the region. It is projected that increased investments will spur agreements on joint ventures and business formation and mergers and acquisitions. Aside from the pool of increased professional fees for lawyers, more jobs for East Africans will be created and the social and economic empowerment the East African Community is striving for will become achievable.

Speaking at the function, Sebalu & Lule's Managing Partner Barnabas Tumusingize recognized that changing trends such as globalization of trade and liberalization of economies have demanded a strategic shift in the manner that law firms do business. Mr. Tumusingize expressed confidence that the alliance and the firm's association with DLA Piper will provide synergies that can only prove beneficial to the firm's clients and other business persons and entities.

“I used this network to seek assistance over a complex financial structure a fortnight or so ago and through this mode of co-operation, we were able to provide our client with top-range drafting work,” Mr Tumusingize said. “This, in view, captures the entire essence of this alliance: to better ourselves professionally and to bring a competitive and qualitative edge to our legal services that can only benefit our clients.”

James Kamau, IK&M's Managing Partner, and David Church, DLA Piper's International Development Partner also spoke at the function. Mr. Kamau stressed that the Juris East Africa union will provide for seamless cross-border legal practise to regional and multinational businesses. He also indicated that plans are underway to admit law firms from Burundi and Southern Sudan.

Mr. Church emphasized the alliance's importance in providing sophisticated, international legal advice in supporting projects and other developments and pledged DLA Piper's commitment to the success and growth of the alliance.

Market sources indicate that the formation of Juris East Africa and the association with DLA Piper will further enhance the already formidable professional capabilities of Sebalu & Lule, IK&M and IMMMA, firms that enjoy top-rating in Chambers Global: A Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers and the International Financial Law Firms (IFLR) IFLR1000 Guide to The World's Leading Financial Law Firms. DLA Piper will share know-how and best practice particularly in the areas of corporate finance, tax, ICT, telecommunications, public private partnerships, infrastructure, energy and aviation.

The association with Sebalu & Lule also will enable DLA Piper to enhance its existing capabilities across Africa, where it already has an exclusive relationship with law firms in Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Ghana, and works closely with law firms in other countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Portuguese-speaking Africa to offer a range of international legal services to clients.