Leading African law firm Bowmans has been recognised at the Chambers Africa Awards ceremony held yesterday (13 January). The firm’s Kenyan practice was named Kenya Law Firm of the Year and its chairman and senior partner, Ezra Davids, was named South Africa Lawyer of the Year.

According to Chambers, ‘The awards recognise a law firm’s pre-eminence in key jurisdictions in the region. They also reflect achievements over the past 12 months including outstanding work, impressive strategic growth and excellence in client service’.

In selecting Bowmans Kenya as Kenya Law Firm of the Year, the Chambers research team said that the practice, ‘maintains an enviable standing among the best Kenyan law firms and regularly acts for an impressive host of domestic and international clients’ and ‘boasts a full-service offering and maintains its top rankings in key practice areas such as Banking & Finance, Corporate M&A, Intellectual Property and Real Estate…The team attracts effusive praise for its breadth of expertise.’

When highlighting the reasons for Ezra Davids’ win, the Chambers research team said: ‘Ezra Davids of Bowmans is revered for his outstanding experience in the fields of corporate M&A as well as equity capital markets, practice areas in which he consistently achieves top rankings. He regularly acts as leading partner on high-value transactions spanning across multiple jurisdictions. Davids is seen as a “super successful lawyer” by sources.’

Paras Shah, managing partner of Bowmans in Kenya says, ‘We are very proud to be Chambers’ Law Firm of the Year in Kenya. Since opening our doors for business with a handful of lawyers in 2008 we have steadily been building the practice into what is now regarded as a leader within the local business and legal community. Recognition of this position by an international organisation as credible as Chambers is a key milestone on our journey. We thank all of our clients who have trusted us with their most complex legal problems over the years. It is through their belief in us that we have been able to demonstrate our ability.’

Alan Keep, managing partner of Bowmans says, ‘Ezra’s award is well deserved. It’s fitting recognition of a lawyer of his considerable ability and experience. Coming shortly after he was unanimously elected as Bowmans’ chairman and senior partner makes it timely too.’

These awards are the latest in a string of awards that Bowmans has won over the past few months. Notable among these are the IFLR Africa Awards for National Firm of the Year in South Africa and in Zambia. With the latest Chambers award, Bowmans has now been named law firm of the year in three of the six jurisdictions in which it is located.