About us

DLA Piper Africa, Kenya (IKM Advocates) is a leading law firm based in Nairobi, Kenya. We are a full-service commercial law firm that has been providing legal services in Kenya for over 30 years.

IKM offers the services of a multidisciplinary team with in-depth knowledge of the Kenyan market and its legal, economic, cultural, and social specificities. We regularly advise leading private and public sector clients including multinationals, investment and commercial banks, private equity firms, governments, DFIs and family offices in numerous countries across various industry sectors including financial services, technology, consumer goods and energy.

Our relationship with DLA Piper Africa and DLA Piper provides the geographical spread required by clients and provides our people with opportunities to tap into international best practice and expertise.

Role Profile

We are seeking to recruit a Senior Associate with 4 – 8 years post-qualification experience to join our Finance practice to provide legal advisory services to clients in respect of various finance transactions including LMA style facilities, structured finance, syndicated lending, DFI and multilateral finance, cross-border transactions and general finance matters.  

Required Skills and Experience

• Experience in banking and finance transactions
• Exposure to LMA style and complex finance transactions
• Experience working in private practice in a mid or top tier law firm
• Strong technical, drafting, document review and negotiation skills
• Ability to manage transaction process and drive matters to completion
• Understanding of security packages, CPs, legal opinions and closing mechanics
• Strong commercial judgement and ability to identify key legal and transaction risks
• Demonstrable ability to lead and manage finance transactions
• Strategic thinker, commercially astute and cognisant of recent legal and business developments
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams
• Excellent skills in communication, client relations and teamwork
• Resilience, flexibility and good judgment under pressure
• Proactive, independent, innovative with a strong understanding of legal technology products and developments

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from a recognized university;
• Professional qualification from the Kenya School of Law;
• Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, with a valid practicing certificate; and
• Four (4) to Eight (8) years of post-qualification experience in banking and finance, project finance, corporate finance or related transactional work.

* Foreign-qualified or internationally trained candidates with strong finance experience may also be considered.

Value Proposition 

The successful candidate will:

• Join a leading regional and global network of over 4,000 lawyers across the globe;
• Become an integral part of a leading tier 1 growing Finance Practice;
• Have the opportunity to regularly work across borders with experts in various developed and developing markets;
• Be eligible for international exposure, travel and secondments;
• Regularly work on complex, dynamic, high profile and high value matters for market leading clients; and
• Supervise and mentor young and upcoming lawyers.

*Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted