Daly & Figgis continues to uphold a reputation of professionalism. According to commentators it has a marginally lower profile than some of its competitors in the corporate transactional arena, however this is compensated by an active litigation practice and good endorsement by clients who speak highly of the firm’s service....
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Daly & Figgis continues to uphold a reputation of professionalism. According to commentators it has a marginally lower profile than some of its competitors in the corporate transactional arena, however this is compensated by an active litigation practice and good endorsement by clients who speak highly of the firm’s service. "It is one of the most professional law firms in the country," says one client, "they give very good legal opinions [and] go beyond just the general approach and look at key issues".
In recent changes to the team, in early 2011 the firm lost recently made up partner Dominic Rebelo to Anjarwalla & Kanna as well as partner Vicky Bharij, but did recruit a UK trained partner in Shitul Shah along with an associate from a competitor.
The firm had a number of large corporate transactional mandates which show the team’s breadth and ability to pull in the big clients. In one finance deal, leading lawyer Hamish Keith advised Standard Chartered and Wananchi Group Holdings as Kenyan counsel alongside Allen & Overy on matters relating to a $35 million term loan facility agreement between the two parties to back up new product launches by Wananchi.
The firm’s other leading name is Ashwini Bhandari, who secured a number of significant mandates in the corporate and M&A field. One such deal had Bhandari, with a team, engaged by Old Mutual Holdings to advise on its acquisition of a 70% stake in stock broking company Reliable Securities. The firm reviewed all documents and conducted the negotiations and due-diligence which paved the way for Old Mutual’s listing on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
In other transactions Bhandari worked with Njau Mukuha and Nigel Jeremy to advise KPMG and TEAMS (Trademark East Africa) on the establishment of TEAMS in Kenya, a deal which had the support of UK government development funding, and to help Century Link Law in their role as counsel to China Development Bank on its proposed $50 million loan to Equity Bank in order to fund certain development projects.
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