CFL Advocates

Firm Overview:
CFL Advocates is a full service law firm with offices in Kenya and Rwanda. Its full service practice covers areas such as intellectual property law, corporate & commercial law, real estate, banking & financial law, dispute resolution & debt recovery and Technology Media & Telecommunication law (TMT). The firm offers both contentious and transactional support to its clients giving them seamless and flexible solutions in East Africa and across Africa. The firm works with its 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 its 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 applications for trade marks, patents, utility models industrial designs and plant breeders’ rights in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, ARIPO, OAPI as well as through international registration systems such as the PCT and Madrid systems. The firm also attends to publication of cautionary notices in Somalia and Somaliland. It works 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 trademark oppositions, expungements, passing-off and infringement actions, domain name complaints as well as anti-counterfeit enforcement actions. Its 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. In addition, the firm is also involved in product registration with regulatory bodies and instituting and defending claims involving abuse of product registration and trademarks 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 trademark 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 counterfeits 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 clauses and 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 helps clients successfully navigate countless business relationships, transactions and requirements. It advises clients on several aspects of business and has 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.

The firm's 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 easy to use and proactive. The strength of its real estate team lies not just in the quality of its people, but also in the deliberate mix of its private sector and relationships forged with the relevant public sector. The firm's ‘cross sector’ knowledge adds real value to the service it provides. It's also panelled with a large number of leading banks which reflects its high standing as a mid-market banking and finance practice.

CFL’s dispute resolution practice focuses on commercial disputes arising in the life cycle of clients various transactions. Where litigation can be avoided, the firm supports clients in understanding the various alternative dispute resolution mechanisms available to them. CFL provides continuous support when disputes appear to be a likely eventuality and guide them in navigating through pre-contentious negotiations with a view to arriving at Settlement Agreements before getting into litigation, arbitration or other ADR proceedings.

The team comprised in the TMT team offers regulatory and transactional advice to clients in the TMT sector across Africa. The 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.

The 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. The team drafts and advises on privacy policies, data collection processes, data management policies, data sharing agreements and international data transfer agreements. Members of the 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, the firm prides itself on providing tailor-made solutions to individual requirements. It combines its knowledge and expertise across markets to add value to its relationships, bringing clients and connections together to share best practice and identify new approaches.