Esther Kinyenje

Email: EWK@kapstrat.com
Position: Partner
Practice Area: Arbitration & Mediation | Employment & Retirement Benefits | Environmental & Conservation Law | Intellectual Property | Litigation | Competition and Antitrust

Esther Kinyenje is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Her main areas of practice are civil litigation, arbitration and mediation in the following areas: commercial law, competition, environmental law, intellectual property, employment matters, construction, administrative and public law, private and public international law claims, product liability, insolvencies and receiverships & security realization. Esther handles matters in all the 3 court categories and also acts as counsel and arbitrator in various commercial arbitrations.

• Advocate – High court of Kenya
• Commissioner for Oaths

• English
• Swahili

•  Successfully defended an international financier (OPIC) in a protracted security realization claim in which Jopa Villas defaulted in its loan repayments and filed a claim seeking to halt the realization of the security against OPIC and its receivers. OPIC was able to liquidate its security which resulted in the payment of US $ 5,814,341,46 to OPIC.
• Various advice and legal actions for protection of industrial designs, trademarks and patents including actions for infringement. Representing Unilever PLC & Unilever Kenya in a trademark infringement case in relation to its well known mark “LUX”, representing Safepak Ltd in several industrial design infringement appeals; jointly successfully defended Kartasi Limited in a patent infringement case.
• Dr. Fred Ojambo SC and Esther Kinyenje represented the Kenya Tea Growers Association in the Court of Appeal in respect of an appeal against a decision by the Employment Court awarding a 30% wage increase. The Court of Appeal delivered a landmark decision reducing the wage increase to 16% and awarded a productivity increase for tea pluckers to 1170 kilograms per month. The Court of Appeal award for productivity is a game changer in the tea industry which has been battling high labour costs impacting on the viability of tea production in the country.
• Representing various multi-national companies before the Competition Authority in the beverage, insurance and cement industries;
• Successfully represented Kenya Tea Growers Association and Unilever Tea Kenya Ltd in an appeal against the decision of the Employment & Labour Relations Court to reinstate employees who had been dismissed for participating in an illegal strike protesting the use of tea plucking machines.
• Successfully represented Kakuzi PLC in a Collective Bargaining Agreement pay dispute which significantly reduced the Union’s monetary claims.
• Successfully defending Bayer East Africa in an employment matter relating to an alleged unlawful redundancy and claim for discrimination. The Claimant sought US $ 1, 491,922.62 being loss of future earnings and compensatory damages. The Claimant was awarded approximately $30,000/-.
• Successfully defended RTI in a constitutional petition against it and the Ministry of Education in an injunction application seeking to prevent the Ministry of Education & RTI from the continuation of an education program which involved the provision of free books to public primary schools in Kenya. The court affirmed the important constitutional right of children to get quality basic education.
• Successfully defended a class action suit by former employees of Unilever Kenya claiming approximately USD 4,200,000;
• Representing Oryx Energies in an environmental licensing dispute at the National Environment Tribunal and the High Court.
• Various advice and representing various employers in respect of employment law claims pertaining to termination, dismissal, redundancy, discrimination, CBA & Recognition Agreement claims;
• Successfully defended Societe Internationale De Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA) in a review application in an employment claim for K.shs 12,000,000/-
• Jointly representing African Development Bank in a public international law dispute in the Court of Appeal;
• Currently acting as an arbitrator in various commercial disputes;