Court defers ruling on law firm’s legality

BY Wahome Thuku

The High Court has deferred its ruling on whether Koceyo and Amadi Advocates Company is operating legally.

Justice David Onyancha on Thursday said he would deliver the ruling in September.

The issue, first reported in The Standard on Monday this week, had the judge admitting he was treading cautiously on the matter.

He said he would research more and deliver a verdict without prejudice or influence from the parties.

"I don’t know how many other such law firms are on record in this and other courts out there, but my ruling will reflect on them all," he said.

His ruling could either open the door for young lawyers to start private practice or force them into partnership with other advocates.

The issue came up in cases filed by Koceyo and Amadi Advocates on behalf of their clients, against Oseko and Company Advocates.

The Advocates Act provides that a lawyer can only set up his or her own law firm after practising as a salaried advocate in another firm for at least two years.

Lawyers Titus Otieno Koceyo and Eddie Jadianga Amadi registered Koceyo and Amadi Company on July 13, 2006.

Mr Koceyo has been practising since 2004 and was thus qualified to set up a private firm, but Mr Amadi joined the bar on May 18, 2006, only days before it was registered.

The two lawyers were employees of Mr Oseko’s law firm when they registered their own.

Legality in question

On Tuesday, Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Maina struck out a plaint filed by their firm against Oseko on the ground that Amadi was not qualified when the firm was set up.

The Koceyo and Amadi law firm has applied to sue the Standard Group for publishing the story.

But Standard Group’s lawyer Ochieng’ Oduor on Thursday objected to the firm being heard in court, since its legality was in question.

Justice Onyancha said his ruling would settle the matter amicably.

The judge remarked: "If the situation is such that they are not entitled to practice and the firm continues despite warnings from other courts, the persons in it are worsening the situation."

He also encouraged Koceyo& Amadi to continue with their practice if they believed they were legally right.