Njeri Kariuki

Practice Areas

Njeri is an Advocate who has specialised in resolving disputes through Arbitration and ADR. During the course of her career, she has delivered awards as a sole arbitrator spanning the petroleum, construction, insurance, banking, commercial & corporate sectors, mainly in the domestic arena. Njeri has also sat on 3-panel tribunals, as co-arbitrator, determining disputes in similar sectors.

Career

Njeri Kariuki is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya since December 1988, who practises out of Nairobi, Kenya, and describes herself as an Advocate turned Dispute Resolver having found, quite early in her career, her passion in Arbitration & ADR. Njeri now sports the additional hats of Chartered Arbitrator and Accredited Mediator.

Njeri’s arbitration, mediation, conveyancing, civil litigation and certified secretary practice covers a range of domestic and international commercial matters and on account of delving into the realm of adjudication in 2013, became a DRBF Member, following which she thoroughly enjoyed a 3-year stint as Chair of a Dispute Adjudication Board set-up to midwife an international geothermal project that came to fruition in 2017. Njeri is also a Tutor, Trainer and Assessor with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and conducts courses and assessments in Kenya and anywhere else her services may be required.

Professional Memberships

Member of the Law Society of Kenya, East Africa Law Society, FIDA, Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Member, LCIA African Users Council, Member, Dispute Resolution Board Foundation, ICCA.

Publications

● Written and presented a paper on International Commercial Arbitration, during the 10th Joint Annual Seminar of the London Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators & the LCIA held in September 2014.

● Written and presented a paper on Commercial Mediation in Africa, during the Centenary Conference of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators held in July 2015 in Livingstone, Zambia.

● Written & presented a paper on “The Effective Skills required for building an Arbitration Practice in Africa: a Woman’s Perspective” during the Joint IBA/ICC Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 5th June, 2017.

● Written & presented a paper on “Who is to blame? Exploring the Role of Party Conduct in escalating the Costs in Arbitration Proceedings” during the NCIA Conference held in Nairobi on the 5th & 6th days of June, 2018.

● Contributed the Kenya Chapter in the:

○ 2014 Chambers Legal Practice Guide on Litigation

○ International Arbitration in the 2016 Chambers Country Practice Guides

○ Global Legal Group's International Comparative Legal 2016, 2017 & 2018 Guides

○ Practical Law - Arbitration Global Guide 2016 & 2017

○ Lexology Navigator Arbitration 2016 & 2017

○ Global Legal Group's Investor State Arbitration 2019 Guide

Personal

After a two year stint at the University of Nairobi, Njeri went on to study Law at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, after completing her BA at York University, Toronto. Njeri also holds a Diploma in International Arbitration (CIArbn., Keble College, Oxford (2007)) and lives in Nairobi all year round where she thoroughly enjoys the company of her 3 children. She is a travel, kick-boxing & power-walking enthusiast.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

World-wide as an arbitrator, mediator and ADR practitioner; Republic of Kenya.

Languages Spoken

English, Gikuyu, Kiswahili and a smattering of French

Work Highlights

Njeri:

❏ is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

❏ has been cited in Chambers Global since 2014 to date as a Leading Individual

❏ was, 2013 -2022, a GOK Nominee to the Panel of Arbitrators at ICSID

❏ was, in May 2018, appointed to the ICC International Court of Arbitration as the Member representing Kenya to which position she was reappointed on 1st July, 2021

❏ was cited by the African Arbitration Academy as one of the top 30 African Arbitrators in early 2021, and in December 2022, as one of the top 20 African Arbitrators

❏ wrote the Kenya National Report for the 2021 ICCA Hearing Project

❏ ascended, in late Y2021, to the position of Chief Assessor in Mediation Assessments, Africa Region, for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

❏ was pronounced “Arbitrator of the Year 2021” by the Kenya Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

❏ received a Certificate of Recognition from “Publisher The Lawyer Africa” declaring her one of the “Top 5 Arbitrators in Kenya in 2022" and in 2023, one of the “Top 2 Arbitrators in Kenya”

❏ is a great believer in giving excellence in service - “whatever you do, do it well”