Katende Ssempebwa


Katende Ssempebwa & Co. Advocates commonly known as KATS is a Ugandan law firm whose headquarters are in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. It is the country's longest standing premier league corporate commercial firm founded in 1969. It is the biggest full service Ugandan firm in terms of numbers and a member of the LEXAfrica network.
With nearly five decades of experience, the firm's managing partner John W. Katende is widely regarded as a doyen of Ugandan law. Co-founding partner Professor Frederick E. Ssempebwa’s advice is sought on Uganda's constitutional matters and on regional mandates too. Over the years, the firm has advised governments, non-governmental organizations, multinationals and other business entities. One of the noteworthy deals saw the firm give a hand to Warid Telecom Uganda on its $500 million merger with Bharti Airtel in 2013. The firm also advised the Government of Uganda on the development of a $3 Billion oil refinery - the first of its kind in Uganda.
The firm played a pivotal role in Uganda's U-turn on the death penalty in 2007 by helping to prove to the Constitutional Court that the death penalty for murder and other offences was unconstitutional. Katende Ssempebwa had earlier on played a fundamental role in erasing all sub sections of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda that had in 1966 abolished traditional institutions from the country. Simultaneously, the firm also managed to come up with relevant laws that enabled the return of all the properties that had been forcefully confiscated from Buganda and other Kingdoms by former Ugandan regimes. These constitutional amendments eventually led to the coronation of Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and other traditional rulers in 1993.

History

Katende Ssempebwa was founded by John W. Katende and Frederick E. Ssempebwa in 1969. Over nearly five decades, the firm has grown into a limited liability partnership of ten Partners, fifteen Associates and thirty five Support Staff and Interns. Over the years, the firm has been involved in many developments in the legal field.
The firm boasts of talented, highly qualified and experienced lawyers many of whom are dual qualified and licensed to practice in the state of New York, in the US and London in the UK. The firm's advocates are members of various professional bodies, including the International Bar Association, the East African Law Society and the Uganda Law Society.
Some of the lawyers graduated from some of the world's leading law schools including but not limited to Harvard University, Columbia University, Queens University Belfast, Wolverhampton University, University of Leicester, University of Houston, the London School of Economics, Boston University, University of Melbourne, Pepperdine University, Northeastern University. Some of the lawyers have had practical legal training at world renown international firms like Slaughter & May, Hogan Lovells, Eversheds, Doughty Street Chambers, Covington & Burling, Morse Barnes-Brown Pendleton.

Location

Although the firm's primary offices are located in the heart of Kampala’s city centre, Katende Ssempebwa maintains a presence in all the major capitals, tax havens and financial centers of the world through its international legal networks.

Notable clients

The firm has provided legal services to the Government of the Republic of Uganda, Samsung, Google, Puma, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Total, Siemens, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Vodafone, Nokia, Airtel Limited, Qatar Airways, Coca-Cola, Eastern and Southern Africa Development Bank, Equity Bank Limited, NC Bank Limited, and Turkish airlines, among others.

Practice areas

Katende Ssempebwa is a full service advisory law firm whose practice is fourfold: Transactional & Advisory services, Litigation & Alternative Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property and Business development:

Transactional and advisory services

This involves legal practice in the following areas:
Anti trust/ Competition, Aviation Law, Banking & Finance, Bankruptcy, Debt recovery, Receiverships, Capital markets, Corporate & Commercial Law, Company Secretarial services, Employment /Labour, Energy, oil & gas, Entertainment, Environment, Family Law, Immigration, Insurance, International trade, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mining,
Non-Profit Organisations, Project Finance, Property / Real Estate, Public Private Partnerships, Tax & Compliance, Telecom, Media & Technology.

Litigation and alternative dispute resolution

The firm has a proven track record in litigation and has been involved in several ground breaking, law making and landmark litigation cases that have shaped the laws of East Africa and many of which are compulsory reading at all East African law schools. KATS litigation practice falls into three categories: Civil & Commercial, Criminal and Constitutional

Intellectual property

The firm has a thriving Intellectual Property department that handles all matters concerning trademarks, patents, copyright, industrial designs, trade secrets.

Business Support

The firm offers Business Support services to assist clients in registering, running and maintaining their businesses seamlessly in Uganda. This includes but is not limited to: Company Secretarial services, Work permits and Citizenship applications, Private investigations and Estate management.

LEXAfrica

Established in 1993, LEXAfrica was and remains Africa's first true network of leading law firms. It arose from a gap in the market for a one stop centre for African law firms to provide clients with legal and business advice in whichever jurisdiction they find themselves, particularly in relation to expanding Africa-to-Africa business. LEXAfrica is recognised as a Leading Network by Chambers and Partners: Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers for Business.
The LEXAfrica legal network was a trailblazer in identifying the untapped potential of the African market and today the LEXAfrica law community is the largest legal network in Africa. It consists of leading law practices in 28 African countries with access to all 54 countries in Africa and, at present, has over 500 lawyers across Africa.

Memberships

The 2018 IFLR1000's law rankings for Katende Ssempebwa indicate that it is a "Tier 1" firm in both Financial & Corporate and Project Development practice areas. The firm has been consistently ranked a Tier 1 firm by IFLR1000 in its 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Editions.
Katende Ssempebwa is ranked as a "Band 1" Ugandan law firm in the 2018 Edition of Chambers & Partners Global Guide to the World's Leading Lawyer's for Business. KATS has been consistently ranked as a "Band 1" firm by Chambers in its 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Editions.
The firm's founding partners, John W. Katende and Professor Frederick E. Ssempebwa, are ranked as the only Ugandan "Senior Statesmen" in the 2018 Edition of Chambers & Partners. They have been consistently recognized by Chambers for the past 18 years.
Sim K. Katende, one of the firm's partners, is ranked as a "Band 1" transaction lawyer in the same publication. He has been recognized by Chambers in the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Editions.
The firm's senior partners John W. Katende and Professor Frederick E. Ssempebwa, plus partners Sim K. Katende and Soogi Katende, are ranked as "highly regarded" lawyers by IFLR1000 – Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms 2018 Edition. The practitioners have been recognised by IFLR1000 as "leading transactional" lawyers by the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 Editions.
Arthur Katende, a Principal Associate, is deemed a "rising star" by the same publication in its 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions.