Senior Partner at Eric Silwamba Jalasi and Linyama in Zambia, Joseph Jalasi is proud of the firm’s rankings: “The firm has grown in leaps and bounds from what was predominantly perceived as a pure litigation firm to become a full service firm. Our firm is also one of the few legal firms in Zambia that boasts capability in tax law.”
The firm’s five-member team includes co-founder and Principal Partner Eric Silwamba, who has been conferred with the rank of State Counsel and is a former Minister of Justice. Lubinda Linyama, their youngest partner, has risen from intern to where he is now. A senior associate at the firm, Mailesi Undi, has also been singled out as a rising star by Legal 500. “These rankings give the firm credible third-party validation by renowned legal directories,” said Jalasi.
The full-service firm is supported by a cross-regional network, and works on everything from litigation and cross-border M&A to banking and finance. It also boasts a robust intellectual property department.
In addition to its top-tier ranking in Legal 500, in 2023 Eric Silwamba Jalasi and Linyama was ranked in Band 2 in Chambers and Partners, Tier 3 in IFLR 1000, Tier 3 in the International Tax Review, and as a notable firm in World Tas Transfer Pricing. IP Stars and Managing IP also listed the firm as a go-to firm in Zambia for intellectual property matters.
Eric Silwamba Jalasi and Linyama has worked on a number of interesting M&A deals in the mining and LPG sectors in recent months, as well as some of the largest prepayment financing transactions in the region.
Jalasi’s success in law is ironic, considering it was initially his second choice. “My dream was to be an engineer, given the technical secondary school I came from, but I was inspired by law’s technical nature and its ability to cross sectors,” he explained. “When I was studying law, Zambia was transitioning from a communist legal structure to a capitalist legal structure and I was intrigued by reforms with respect to capital markets, the Companies Act, insurance, land law reforms and, of course, constitutional reforms.”
Jalasi had high-level impact in Zambia during his tenure as chief legal analyst under President Mwanawasa and legal adviser to President Rupiah Banda; he has contributed to growing the country’s jurisprudence by arguing some landmark judgements, including the famous NewPlast industries vs Attorney General case. “From a larger perspective, belonging to the Dentons network allows me to have a wider impact through the cross-border work we do which is now becoming the focus of the firm,” he shared.
Asked what he thinks is the single biggest issue the African legal sector needs to overcome in the next five years, Jalasi says firms need to understand the needs of their clients better, especially those with cross-border operations.
“The issue of IT infrastructure which offers comparable protection for clients is essential, especially with the rise of data protection legislation across the continent,” he said. “The careful and systematic deployment of AI in the African legal market is another big issue. Lawyers cannot continue to bury their heads with respect to IT. The issue of talent management is also key; that feeds into succession plans. African legal leaders, especially founders, need to think about creating firms that will outlive them, so the perspective has to go beyond the narrow thinking of domestic markets.”
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