CS Advocates LLP has advised clients on Kenyan commercial law from The Mirage, Waiyaki Way, Westlands, since 2021. The firm acts for businesses, investors, institutions and private clients on transactions, property, disputes and regulation.
We are a commercial law firm in Westlands, Nairobi. Our work is built around clear advice, careful preparation and direct communication with the advocate handling your matter.
Advocate, lawyer or attorney? In Kenya, the formal title is advocate: a lawyer who has been admitted to the Bar and is entitled to appear in court. Attorney is more common in other jurisdictions. Clients use all three words; we use advocate for the Kenyan role and are happy to use lawyer or attorney when that is clearer.
Your advocate
Bruno Walela Situma: Partner, Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Bruno Walela Situma is a Partner at CS Advocates LLP and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He is also a Certified Public Secretary (K) and a certified mediator. He leads the firm’s commercial litigation and dispute resolution practice, and advises on governance, banking and securities, and company secretarial matters.
Commercial litigation in Kenya rarely turns on the hearing alone. It begins with the contract, the correspondence and the limitation position, and continues through pleadings, evidence, case management and, where the parties choose it, mediation or arbitration. Bruno’s practice follows that sequence: assessing the strength and timing of a claim, setting strategy, drafting pleadings and applications, preparing witnesses and evidence, negotiating settlement, and enforcing a judgment or award once it is obtained. His litigation work covers commercial, insurance, recovery and enforcement disputes.
A dispute is assessed before it is filed: the legal basis, the evidence, the limitation position and the client’s commercial objective all bear on the route chosen. Litigation, arbitration and mediation each carry different costs, timetables and confidentiality consequences, and the choice should follow the contract and the objective rather than habit. Enforcement is planned from the start, not left to the end.
His governance work includes audits and advisory aligned to the MWONGOZO Code and recognised governance standards (MWONGOZO / CGJK), board support, and remediation planning. In banking and securities he advises on facility documentation, security perfection and enforcement, including the movable property security regime under the Movable Property Security Rights Act 2017. His company secretarial practice covers statutory registers, filings and board support under the Companies Act 2015.
- Governance audits aligned to the MWONGOZO Code and recognised governance standards (MWONGOZO / CGJK)
- Company secretarial services: statutory registers, filings, and board support under the Companies Act 2015
- Banking and securities: facility documentation, security perfection, and enforcement
- Litigation lead for commercial, insurance, recovery, and enforcement disputes
- Certified mediator supporting negotiated and private dispute resolution
He also supports negotiated and private dispute resolution as a certified mediator, including settlement discussions conducted on a confidential basis. The firm’s clients include businesses, investors, institutions and private clients, and instructions are handled in English, the firm’s declared language of business. On cs.legal he is the recorded named reviewer for the firm’s guides to judicial review time limits, contract limitation periods, arbitration versus litigation, insurance claim repudiation and movable property security. Those articles are part of the firm’s commercial library, and the site’s editorial policy explains how such articles are researched, attributed and reviewed. Enquiries can be sent to [email protected] or through the contact page.
Charles Muriu Mathenge: Managing Partner, Real Estate and International Business Law
Charles Muriu Mathenge is the Managing Partner of CS Advocates LLP and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He is a certified mediator and holds an LLB from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and an LLM from Xi’an Jiaotong University, China. He leads the firm’s real estate and conveyancing work, its international business practice, and its IT, ICT, data privacy and AI law advisory.
His real estate work covers acquisitions, disposals and development advisory, together with the due diligence a Kenyan property transaction requires: official searches, verification of title and seller authority, rates and rent clearance, spousal and land control consents, stamp duty and registration. He advises on transactions under the Land Registration Act 2012 and on sectional titles under the Sectional Properties Act 2020, and on the practical questions that arise when a buyer is based outside Kenya. Transactions are progressed against a written checklist so that searches, consents, tax clearances and registration are sequenced, and clients abroad receive document lists and status updates in writing.
In international business he advises diaspora clients and foreign investors on entering the Kenyan market and on transactions with a Kenyan connection: investment structures, land and property transactions, agency arrangements, joint ventures, commercial contracts, and the private mediation of commercial and property disputes. Much of that work involves explaining Kenyan procedure to clients who are not in Nairobi and coordinating searches, consents and registration on their behalf. The firm’s China connection is part of that practice: he advises Chinese investors entering Kenya on property and agency arrangements.
He also heads the firm’s IT, ICT, data privacy and AI law advisory, which covers the Data Protection Act 2019, controller and processor arrangements, privacy notices, data protection impact assessments, breach response and cross-border transfers, together with technology contracts and responsible AI governance for Kenyan organisations. That advisory includes data protection registration, data subject requests, the ODPC framework and the practical steps an organisation takes after a breach.
- Real estate and conveyancing lead: acquisitions, disposals, and development advisory under the Land Registration Act 2012 and Sectional Properties Act 2020
- International business law: market entry, contracts, and joint ventures for foreign and diaspora investors
- Head of the firm’s IT, ICT, data privacy, and AI law advisory under the Data Protection Act 2019
- Certified mediator for commercial and property disputes
Articles published on cs.legal under his byline include practical guides to registering a company on eCitizen, ending a commercial lease, planning succession in a family business and using AI in recruitment. He is also the recorded named reviewer for the firm’s PPP Act 2021 investor guide. Enquiries can be sent to [email protected] or through the contact page.
How We Work
What working with us feels like: the advocate responsible for your matter stays involved, strategy is explained in plain language, and you will know what stage the matter has reached and what happens next. The engagement letter records the scope and how fees are charged before chargeable work begins.
Editorial Standards and Corrections
Our articles are researched against primary sources where the legal proposition is specific, and reviewed before publication. Articles that have completed legal review carry a review line naming the reviewer and the review date. Where no advocate has recorded named sign-off, the review is recorded as editorial review and the article does not claim advocate sign-off. Our editorial policy explains how articles are researched, attributed, reviewed and corrected, and our corrections log records material corrections to published pages. To raise a correction, email [email protected].
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