While workplaces may have changed drastically in recent years due to the pandemic, technological leaps and global trends, the importance of creating a great culture and mentoring the next generation of lawyers endures, say Collette Akwana, Kevin Kwasa, and Victoria Muya.
Collette, a data protection and dispute resolution expert who works out of the firm’s Mombasa office, joined CMS Kenya’s partnership in January 2022, a little over two years after Kenyan firm Daly & Inamdar Advocates joined with global giant CMS. She says their firm’s open-door policy helps break down barriers between young lawyers and partners, and creates a great learning environment.
“You have to build trust; you have to ensure people are moving as a team,” emphasised Kevin who joined the partnership of CMS Kenya | Daly Inamdar Advocates (CMS Kenya) in July. “The legal sphere is changing, and you must be very clear on new skills for your juniors and seniors. Younger lawyers are more well-versed in technology, an important part of the legal field nowadays. With mentoring, where I come in is to make sure we have a good culture, that we’re talking and communicating with each other, and are learning life skills together as a team.”
Victoria, a corporate and company secretarial expert who joined CMS Kenya as a new partner in mid-September, just ahead of the firm’s 125th anniversary celebrations, also believes mentorship reaches beyond continuing legal education.
“I want to grow the knowledge of young lawyers in my practice area, but also mentor them on life skills and being able to balance work and life,” she said. “I think it goes hand-in-hand, because for you to succeed in your work life, you need to be able to make good life decisions.”
Recently, the new generation of lawyers at the firm’s Nairobi and Mombasa offices have also had far greater cross-border opportunities for legal work and ongoing learning thanks to the firm’s relationship with CMS, including through the CMS Africa Academy which was hosted in Nairobi this year for the first time.
Young lawyers are in a field where things constantly change, noted Victoria, so along with developing legal expertise, they also need to learn soft skills like customer service, how to handle client expectations, and how to manage tough times and tough decisions, as things won’t always go their way.
Collette, Kevin and Victoria are eager to help build an even brighter future for this pioneering Kenyan firm that has a strong legacy of ground-breaking transactions, and now global reach.
“One of the biggest changes in the legal market is the introduction of technology in how we practise,” said Collette. “From online tools for attending court, you have AI that’s coming in to read documents and review agreements, reducing the time an advocate would take to do those tasks from four hours to 40 minutes. We keep saying that lawyers who use technology will eventually replace lawyers who don’t use technology. That’s something we’re very alive to at CMS Kenya.”
These three partners all appreciate the blend of generational knowledge at CMS Kenya and are keen to build capacity with their peers, enhance legal practices, and create a culture of thought leaders at the forefront of law and business development in East Africa and beyond.
Kevin is excited that CMS Kenya has so much history and yet still makes “a lot of space for young people to come in and chart a new way for the future of a global-reaching firm”.
“The law is not static, so with this good blend of legal expertise we’ll be able to handle any challenges that come, whether based on old laws, current laws or future laws,” concluded Victoria.