Legal services in Kenya

Priscilla this a very good topic and very important. As a Lawyer I will always urge anyone in a new country to ensure that their papers are legally correct every second.  The best way of finding a lawyer is always through the company that has employed you, this is because you are more likely to be recommended to a trusted lawyer and even through them you  will meet other lawyers who will assist.
Most expats need services in commercial, Conveyancing and immigration lawws which is always easily available at a favourable cost.
Many leases and sale of properties are other areas that expats need in a new country.

An expat may need the services of a lawyer for immigration matters and property conveyancing, for example.

<<always easily available at a favourable cost>> 

I have to dispute this as far as conveyancing is concerned.  Charges are incredibly high compared to say, the UK as they are based on a percentage of the value of your property (which is endorsed by the Law Society of Kenya).  The last house that we bought led to a lawyers bill of almost Ksh 250,000 for doing a job which doesn't take up a lot of time - especially as we commissioned the searches to speed up the process.  Its a licence to print money!!!

We sold a 100 x 100 plot a few weeks ago and although the lawyer was thoroughly professional, he tried to overcharge, for drawing up a basic sales agreement and witnessing it - my wife thought it was because there was a foreigner (me) involved in the transaction.  There is an unfortunate tendency in Kenya to overcharge foreigners in the often inaccurate belief that they all have millions to spend and this does seem to include professional services, such as lawyers.........and really shouldn't.

Finding a good lawyer is often a matter of word of mouth.  Alternatively, a good place to start would be the Law Society of Kenya, which holds a register of lawyers who are registered to practice. 

A word of warning;  when purchasing property in the UK it is usual practice to pay the deposit to the lawyer, who holds it on behalf of both buyer and seller, until the deal has been completed.  Kenyan property law is similar to that of the UK.  However, If you do this in Kenya, its quite likely that your lawyer will spend it.  It happened to us, and I know of others it has happened to.  In our case, the lawyer bought a car with our deposit, assuming that incoming business would claw back the money spent - it didn't.  The result was that things got very nasty.  We almost lost the sale.  Fortunately, the seller was also a lawyer and took pity on us (and also made a complaint to the law society).  Find another method, such as opening a joint account with the the seller (both parties to sign for withdrawal).

My advice: long before one travels to Kenya: make sure you have made reliable friends. that's the start of your (professional) network. It will turn out to be highly valuable. In my case, I do have lawyers in my family in Kenya. Their advice is extremely valuable and it has saved me from making some huge mistakes. Kenya is not the UK or any other EU country. Keep that in mind if you wanna act smart.