Mehrteab & Getu Advocates LLP (MLA) has received a number of accolades and market recognition by the major international legal directories for its excellent legal services. The firm has been ranked as a Band 1 General Business Law Firm in Ethiopia by Chambers & Partners Global (2015‒2023), a TIER 1 Financial and Corporate Law Firm in Ethiopia by IFLR 1000 (2019‒2023), and as a TIER 1 Law Firm in Ethiopia by The Legal 500 (2018‒2023).
Mehrteab Leul Kokeb, managing partner of MLA, says that as a leading full service law firm offering clients dedicated and seamless legal advice, MLA prides itself on being Ethiopia’s largest law firm in terms of number of lawyers and areas of expertise. “We specialise in complex, cross-legal services, often cross-border matters with eight major practice areas and over 20 qualified lawyers. This is a breadth of expertise that no other law firm in Ethiopia is able to match,” he shared.
With a “one-stop-shop” approach, the firm ensures that it serves all of its clients’ business needs. “The combination of our teams together with our extensive expertise and experience in corporate investment matters, particularly financial transactions, will ensure that you have the right advice in all areas,” Kokeb said. Their wide variety of clientele is testament to this, with clients ranging from start-ups and government entities to multinational corporations, prominent non-profit organisations and diplomatic missions.
The firm’s success can largely be attributed to the calibre of its lawyers. “MLA’s recruitment process aims at hiring the best legal minds available in the local market,” Mehrteab pointed out. “Currently, MLA consists of lawyers who have advanced degrees from accredited universities in Europe, USA and the UK.”
Mehrteab himself has been ranked as a Band 1 Lawyer in Ethiopia by Chambers & Partners Global, as a “Leading Individual” by The Legal 500 and as a Highly Regarded Lawyer in Ethiopia by The IFLR 1000 (2019‒2023)
Getu Shiferaw, a partner at MLA, is ranked as a Rising Partner by IFLR 1000 (2022-2023). Mehrteab says the firm works on a wide variety of cases – everything from representing local construction contractors before an arbitral tribunal in their disputes with an international contractor, to assisting the government of Ethiopia with a hydrocarbon pipeline project signing framework agreement with the sponsors. MLA has also actively worked on record high privatisation transactions which include DIAGEO and Japanese Tobacco International deals with Ethiopia’s government.
Another interesting cross-border project involved assisting a client in developing case strategy for a court case pending in the London High Court with a government-owned state enterprise. The firm has also assisted the Exim Bank of China and China Development Bank on the regulatory and jurisdictional matters relating to a number of sovereign debts extended to the Ethiopian government.
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