Bowmans has suffered a second bereavement in the space of a few months, with the loss of its Kenyan senior dispute resolution partner.
Evans Monari , senior disputes and arbitration partner for Bowmans in Kenya, passed away on 4 October.
A highly regarded dispute resolution lawyer who had represented the Kenyan government and President Uhuru Kenyatta, Monari brought his disputes expertise to bear on a wide range of corporate matters, such as the 2017 contentious restructuring of Kenya Airways , on which he provided litigation advice .
The news came only days after Bowmans appointed corporate partner Ezra Davids as its new firm-wide chairman and managing partner, succeeding Robert Legh who passed away in July.
Davids said Monari was “instrumental in the growth of our disputes practice in Kenya” and praised him as “an all-round litigator involved in a myriad of commercial, civil, judicial review and constitutional briefs.”
At Bowmans legacy firm Coulson Harney , Monari had successfully represented the government of Kenya in an investor-state arbitration at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes , appearing alongside lawyers from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer .
A prominent figure in the Kenyan legal scene, he spoke at last year’s East Africa International Arbitration Conference and was an advocate of growing arbitration and use of African arbitration centres, particularly in Kenya .
He also defended Kenyatta before the International Criminal Court in 2014, when the president was facing charges that were later withdrawn.
Kenyatta described Monari in a statement as “one of our country’s leading lawyers who distinguished himself as a dependable resource as seen from his successes”.