Who are Uganda’s Leading 25 Corporate and Commercial Law Firms? Do you have an issue that requires a corporate and commercial lawyer and are looking to hire a knowledgeable and experienced lawyer? Or do you have that new business opportunity and or challenge that requires legal support to especially take care of any future risks emanating from possible non-compliance with the law? Here is CEO East Africa Magazine Guide to some of Uganda’s 25 leading corporate and commercial law firms in Uganda.

The question of what a good legal advisor is or is not is usually a complex one. The general rule of thumb, though, is a good legal advisor- either individual or corporate is knowledgeable about the law and with a good grasp of the particular issues/industry at hand. Good grasp can be measured by exposure and experience, with a sizeable number of related matters successfully closed. 

In an attempt to guide business leaders and make decision-making on which law firms/lawyers to use for business transactions CEO East Africa Magazine, has after careful research, developed a list of Uganda’s top 25 corporate and commercial law firms for 2023 and beyond.

To arrive at this list, we considered existing respected legal rankings: Chambers & Partners, the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) 1000 and The Legal 500. We also used a good measure of peer review- by consulting some respected players and authorities in the legal services industry. 

The London-based Chambers and Partners is a legal ranking firm that identifies and ranks the most outstanding law firms and lawyers in 70 countries and 200 jurisdictions throughout the world. Founded in 1989, Chambers and Partners, refers to itself as the “leading independent professional legal research company” that “delivers detailed rankings and insight into the world’s leading lawyers and law firms.” 

Chambers and Partners’ methodology involves detailed interviews and analysis of capabilities, achievement and sector presence. Ratings, for law firms, are in Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6. Band 1 is the highest and Band 6 is the lowest. Chambers and Partners ratings are based on: technical legal ability; professional conduct; client service; commercial astuteness; diligence and commitment.  

IFLR1000 on the other hand refers to itself as an “international guide to the world’s leading financial and corporate law firms and lawyers”. The IFLR 1000 annual law firm rankings are based on three key criteria: financial and corporate transactional evidence, and client feedback.

IFLR1000 ranks close to 5000 law firms and more than 21,000 lawyers across 12 practice areas and 250 jurisdictions around the world. The company has been producing legal market intelligence since 1990 and is the largest international legal market research brand focused on ranking law firms and lawyers based on financial and corporate transactional work. IFLR1000 law firm rankings are based on two areas, namely Financial and Corporate as well as Project Development is built on Tiers 1-4. Tier 1 is the highest while Tier 4 is the lowest.

THE LEGAL 500 series is another respected rating agency that has been in existence for 33 years. It assesses the strengths of law firms in over 150 jurisdictions. The rankings are based on a series of criteria, derived from self-submissions as well as research and interviews with clients. Some of the factors considered include technical ability, client portfolio, networks and contacts, distribution of talent and skills within the firm beyond the main partners, transactions handled and historical track record on top deals/cases as well as the market share held. They also consider subject matter/practice area strengths, reputation for handling complex, innovative deals as well as capacity to handle all client requirements in an area;  Commitment to IT and the use of IT to improve client services and perceptions/reputation in the market.  

To determine which rank or position is held by which firm, we not only considered the most recent 2022 rankings above, but we also looked at how long the firms have been rated and how many lawyers in each of these law firms have been rated and for how long. For example, a law firm that has been consistently rated for the last 16 years and has a higher number of its lawyers rated, is bound to be rated highly, in this,  CEO East Africa’s 2023 Corporate and Commercial Legal Industry Guide. We also considered the level of ranking, (bands in Chambers and Partners; Tiers, under IFLR1000 and Legal 500) which was then scored suitably. Therefore the more highly rated lawyers, the higher would be the score and therefore the higher the rank of that particular law firm.

All the above were then scored and an average was obtained. After being peer-reviewed, the final ranks were arrived at. 

Here below, CEO East Africa Magazine presents our 2023 Corporate and Commercial Legal Industry Guide- a guide to Uganda’s top 25 corporate and commercial law firms.