CFL Advocates

Firm Overview:

CFL Advocates is a full-service law firm with offices in Kenya and Rwanda. Our full-service practice covers areas such as intellectual property law, corporate & commercial law, real estate, banking & finance law, dispute resolution & debt recovery and Technology Media & Telecommunication law (TMT). We offer both contentious and transactional support to our clients giving them seamless and flexible solutions in East Africa and across Africa We work with our clients to deliver the most commercially focused, responsive, client- specific, practical and cost-effective legal solutions by striving to gain an in-depth knowledge of the commercial environment in which our clients’ businesses operate in.

CFL is best known for its seamless management of intellectual property portfolios across multiple sectors. The Firm is involved in filing and maintaining various intellectual property rights in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, ARIPO, OAPI as well as through international registration systems such as the PCT and Madrid systems. We work with international law firms to provide services to their clients in East Africa and across Africa.

CFL also assists with contentious aspects of intellectual property law including instituting and defending trade mark oppositions, expungements, passing-off and infringement actions, domain name disputes as well as anti-counterfeit enforcement actions. Our vibrant team of innovative lawyers who are excellent at issue spotting, legal research and drafting have contributed to the steady increase in contentious IP matters that the firm handles. Out firm is also involved in product registration with regulatory bodies and instituting and defending claims involving abuse of product registration and trade marks by distributors.

CFL has been actively involved in the anti-counterfeit practice. As part of the practice, the firm has assisted several clients in the mandatory recordation of their trade marks with the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA). Additionally, the firm assists clients in enforcing their rights against counterfeiters for example by carrying out market investigations to identify counterfeit goods in the market and their source, working with the ACA to arrange for seizure of counterfeit goods and filing civil suits against counterfeiters.

The firm is also involved in IP advisory which ranges from reviewing IP related contracts, issuing legal opinions on IP matters, assisting clients with IP related aspects of transactions and optimisation of IP portfolios.

In the Corporate and Commercial law Department, the Firm advises clients on several legal aspects of business and have particularly strong capabilities in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, competition law, employment law, contract drafting and review, consumer protection, regional business establishment, share & asset sales and corporate restructuring.

Our Real Estate, Banking and Financial law department has extensive experience in acquisition finance, real estate finance, restructurings, refinancing, project finance and asset-based lending. The Firm is known for giving practical advice, having strong market knowledge, being responsive and proactive.The strength of our real estate team lies not just in the quality of our people, but our ability to forge strong networks with both the private and public institutions involved in real eatate and finance. Our ‘cross sector’ knowledge adds real value to the service we provide. We are also entrusted with providing legal services to a number of leading banks which reflects our high standing as a banking and finance practice.

Our dispute resolution practice focuses on commercial disputes arising in the life cycle of clients’ various transactions. Where litigation can be avoided, we support clients in understanding the various alternative dispute resolution mechanisms available to them. We provide continuous support when disputes appear to be a likely eventuality and guide them in navigating through the dispute resolution options.

Our TMT team offers regulatory and transactional advice to clients in the TMT sector across East Africa. Our range of services include advisory on regulatory, policy, compliance and transactional issues relating to new technologies, cybersecurity, outsourcing, online gaming, broadcasting, film, music and content production and distribution amongst others.

Our data protection & privacy team has a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of data protection and privacy laws, including registration of data processes and data controllers, regulatory investigations, data security, cross border transfers, consent issues, data controller/processor issues, digital marketing and social media campaigns, subject access requests and claims from individuals. We draft and advise on privacy policies, data collection processes, data management policies, data sharing agreements and international data transfer agreements. Members of our team also offer expertise in the privacy rights of individuals, including applying and defending data breaches actions before the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

By seeking to understand the priorities and business challenges facing our clients, we pride ourselves in providing tailor-made solutions to meet our clients’ legal needs.