Coulson Harney is a Kenyan corporate and commercial law firm providing legal advice and transaction services to a wide range of international clients and local Kenyan clients. At Coulson Harney our aim is to assist our clients in achieving their objectives as smoothly and efficiently as possible whilst minimising the legal and regulatory risks, both within Kenya and further afield around Africa.
The Firm is ranked in international legal directories such as Chambers & Partners (Tier 1 in 2013 & 2014), Legal 500 (Tier 1), and International Financial Law Review. Coulson Harney is the only law firm in Kenya with three lawyers in Band 1 of Chambers & Partners for Corporate Commercial. We have also earned several accolades such as: Gold Category, World Trademark Review (2015 and 2014), Deal of the year 2012 (Africa Investor), and Cross-Border Law Firm of the Year in Kenya (Global Law Experts 2012).
We have 16 partners and partner equivalent lawyers and a total complement of more than 30 qualified lawyers with work experience in Kenya, the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere, drawn from private legal practice, as well as the public and private sectors. We work on Kenyan domestic matters and transactions, and on international and cross-border advisory mandates for a wide range of clients.
The main areas of practice are in corporate and commercial, banking and finance, capital markets, energy and resources, real estate, intellectual property and dispute resolution.
Coulson Harney has sixteen partners, a Director and a wealth of talented senior lawyers and associates with qualifications and work experience in Kenya, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada and Australia. Our lawyers are diverse and multi-talented and work on Kenyan domestic matters and transactions, and on international and cross-border advisory mandates for a wide range of clients.
The staff at Coulson Harney are an energetic and enthusiastic group of people who enjoy their work and the clients they work for. Good humour and a determination to deliver high-quality advice makes for a positive working atmosphere. We are a modern firm made of seasoned lawyers and eager young professionals. We are not hidebound by the past but are also wise enough to know that what clients want from their law firm is excellence, efficiency, creativity and integrity.
Our partners are knowledgeable and well-versed in the local legal and business environment. Through our association with Bowman Gilfillan and the other members of the Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group we seek to expand our ambitions beyond Kenya’s borders – to the East African region and the continent beyond. We have worked on projects in Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon.
At Coulson Harney our aim is to ensure that the legal advice and services we provide to our clients is not only accurate and relevant but is also delivered in a friendly and client-oriented manner. Our advice seeks to be:
- pragmatic in the sense that it needs to fit in with the solutions you are looking for. Thus we aim to develop creative approaches to protect, and enhance, your interests
- accurate in so far as it must be based on a sound legal footing – in order to ensure that the arrangements you enter into are legally correct and accurately reflect the commercial position you are seeking
- results-driven – through finding the right answers and structures to meet your requirements even when the solution is not obvious
- efficient – by ensuring that you are kept informed of how the matter is progressing
- modern in the sense that we review our service delivery against the benchmark of the expectations of multinational clients and the standards of major international law firms cost effective.
Our size, resources, combination of breadth of skills, communications, facilities and geographic spread enable us to handle the largest and most time-critical transactions when required. We are fully aware of the need for legal advice and legal structures to be compatible with the needs of modern commerce, industry and finance.