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Patience BAIBARE is a young and energetic mind, with a proven track record in legal analysis skills demonstrated by her victory in participating and winning several international moot court competitions on behalf of the lone participating Rwandan University; one among the many being the 4th annual Children rights conference and moot court competition held at Strathmore University where she was not only the overall winner but also winner with best respondent memorial.
She is currently pursuing a Master’s in business law at University of Rwanda. She holds;
- Post-graduate Diploma in Legal practice (DLP) from the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD).
- Bachelor’s degree in Law (LL. B) with Distinction, from the University of Rwanda’s school of Law, (2015).
She is an articulate, open-minded and confident young lawyer and analytical researcher with high communication skills.
She successfully participated in numerous national debates competitions on behalf of her University and perfected her legal expertise and research skills while serving at the University’s Centre for Legal Aid and Mediation. Her area of interest includes Business and Commercial law, Employment and Labor issues, Contracts and Tort Law, among others. At Fountain Advocates, she spends her time conducting legal research on matters facing the Firm’s clients, providing legal opinions and consultancy on matters brought to the attention of Fountain Advocates.
Patience has excellent command of English, fluent in Kinyarwanda, Luganda and has working knowledge of French and Spanish.
MTN Centre Nyarutarama 1st floor Kigali Rwanda
RICHARD BALENZI
PARTNER (Expertise: Capital Markets and Banking & Finance) Trust Law Chambers (Rwanda)Practice Areas
Richard Balenzi holds a First-Class Masters in Corporate and Finance Law from the University of Glasgow (UK). He also holds a BA Honours in Law with French from the University of Nottingham (UK) in conjunction with the Universite de Nantes (France) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre (Uganda).
Richard joined Trust Law Chambers in 2008 and was seconded to Dentons LLP UK in 2012 where he was involved in Banking and Finance transactions.
He specializes in Banking & Finance and Capital Markets.
Richard has been ranked by IFLR1000as a “Highly Regarded” lawyer and by Chambers & Partners Global as a Band 2 Attorney who is “trusted to handle complex financial transactions”.
He has led several groundbreaking banking & finance, mergers & acquisitions, and capital markets transactions in Rwanda. He also advises on corporate law, employment law and general commercial law matters. In the academic domain, Richard has taught business law to Association of Chartered Certified Accountants(ACCA) students at The College of Business. He also writes a monthly legal column for The New Times.
Richard is a member of the Rwanda Bar Association. He was formerly the Chairman of the Board of AB Bank (Rwanda) Ltd and is a Swedish Institute of Management Program Fellow, 2016 cohort.
He is a native speaker of Kinyarwanda and is fluent in English, French and Swahili.
KG 569 Street, TLC House, Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
John Bosco BUGINGO is a founding partner and currently, the Managing Partner of Fountain Advocates which he founded with others in 2008.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from the National University of Rwanda (NUR) in 2004, and a Master of Laws Degree in Business Law from the University of Rwanda (UR) 2014. He obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (DLP) from the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD)-Rwanda;
He is an accredited Associate Member, of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators– London (ACIArb) since 2013. He serves on several boards as advisor and Director on local, regional and internationally owned companies.
He is a member of the Rwanda bar association (RBA), and the East African Law Society (EALS). A lecturer at the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD) since 2014 teaching special module on court Advocacy and Practice Management.
He has handled major mergers and acquisitions, cross border transactions, negotiations and litigations and participated as a legal expert and or witness in high net worth cases in London-UK and USA. He has represented cases before commercial and administrative tribunals/courts of Law in Rwanda throughout his practice as Lead Counsel in all Business, Tax, Labor and Administrative matters for private entities, Government of Rwanda, government agencies, corporates and associations and charities.
He is a trainer and Fellow of the International Bridges to Justice a non-profit organization based in Switzerland; Director of a local charity organization Rwanda Bridges to Justice (RBJ) working and assisting vulnerable women, men and children in the Rwanda’s criminal Justice sector.
His a native speaker of Kinyarwanda, has excellent command of English and a working knowledge of French and Swahili.
MTN Centre Nyarutarama 1st floor Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
Butare is the Managing Partner and one of the founding Partners of MRB Attorneys. He holds an LLB (Hons) of the National University of Rwanda (NUR), LLM Ottawa University, a Postgraduate Diploma in legal Practice of the Institute of Legal Practice & Development, and a Certificate in Global Arbitration from Hamline University School of Law, Minnesota, USA in conjunction with International School of Business Studies, Queen Mary University, London.
He has worked as a Principal State Attorney at the Rwandan Ministry of Justice. Butare has handled big cases through litigation, mediation and or Arbitration. He also served as a Secretary to the Commission on out-of-court settlement of disputes against the government of Rwanda. He was part of the team that negotiated the Declaration for the launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Area negotiations between the EAC, COMESA and SADC.
Butare has been involved in different high profile advisory work including insolvency as receiver for SOPROTEL Ltd. Emmanuel has got vast experience in research, training management and academia having worked as a Lecturer and consultant with the National University of Rwanda; and as a trainer for the Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD). He is a member of the Rwanda Bar Association, the East Africa Law Society where he serves as a council member and Vice President – Strategic Litigation. He is also a member of the Pan African Lawyers Union.
KG 268 St. 1 Nyarutarama Kigali Rwanda
KN 75 St, No 16, Camp Kigali Road Kigali Rwanda
DANIEL GASAATURA
PARTNER (Expertise: Banking & Finance, Corporate & Commercial law and Tax Law) Trust Law Chambers (Rwanda)Practice Areas
Daniel started his career at Trust Law Chambers in May 2013 as a junior Associate in the Corporate & Commercial, Finance and Intellectual Property departments, before moving to MTN Rwanda Ltd in 2015 as the Senior Legal and Regulatory Officer. As a deputy to the Company Secretary and Head of Legal/Regulatory affairs, Daniel was in charge of contract management and ensuring compliance for the biggest telecom company in the country. He gained valuable experience in contract drafting and management, corporate and commercial transactions, Tax disputes, as well as regulatory and compliance oversight.
Daniel re-joined Trust Law Chambers in September 2018 on completion of his Msc. He practices Tax, Corporate and Commercial, as well as Banking & Finance Law.
He is a native speaker of Kinyarwanda, has excellent command of English.
KG 569 Street, TLC House, Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
Mr. Davis Higiro obtained his Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) in 2020 from Makerere University.
Before he joined Trust Law Chambers, Davis acquired legal experience at Didas Nkurunziza & CO. Advocates and Baluti & Ssozi Advocates. Both law firms are based in Uganda.
Davis handles general commercial matters at Trust Law Chambers. He is also currently pursuing a Diploma in Legal practice from the Institute of Legal Practice and Development.
He is a native Kinyarwanda speaker and fluent in English with a working knowledge of French
KG 569 Street, TLC House, Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
Muwanguzi Kalisa is the Senior Partner and one of the founding partners of MRB. He is senior member of the Rwandan bar. He has undertaken a number of consultancy and advisory assignments in Rwanda and has closely worked with the Rwandan Justice Sector Cluster (JRLOS) on Rwanda’s justice sector reforms including working on new legislation, curriculum development and training.
George practiced law in Uganda for more than ten years representing corporate clientele that included companies, banks and government agencies. Having been entered on the roll of advocates of Rwanda for more than five years plus another five years of intensive legal consultancy work for the government of Rwanda as well as other local and international clients. George has two decades of legal advisory and consultancy experience as well as academia having taught comparative law at the National University of Rwanda as well as legal practice at the Institute of Legal Practice & Development (ILPD).
George holds an LLM from Makerere University, a Postgraduate Diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre – Kampala. George is a fellow of modern legal and legislative drafting of the University of Sydney law school in Australia as well as a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London. He is a member of the Ugandan bar, the Rwandan Bar and the East African Law Society.
KG 268 St. 1 Nyarutarama Kigali Rwanda
TELESPHORE KAYIGIRWA
SENIOR ASSOCIATE (Expertise: Litigation & Dispute Resolution) Trust Law Chambers (Rwanda)Practice Areas
Mr. Telesphore Kayigirwa earned his Law degree from the Kigali Independent University in 2005 and holds a postgraduate diploma in Law from the Institute of Legal Practice. He is also a recognized Receiver and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration.
Prior to joining Trust Law Chambers in 2017, Telesphore worked in differentmanagerial and recovery roles at ZIGAMA CCS for over 13 years. As a Senior Associate at TLC, he brings his tremendous skills and tenacity to the Litigation & Dispute Resolution department particularly in the areas of Bank recoveries and receivership.
He is a member of the Rwanda Bar Association & East African Law Society with an excellent command of French, English, Kinyarwanda and Swahili.
KG 569 Street, TLC House, Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
Didas Kayihura, currently serving as the Rector of the Institute for Legal Practice and Development (ILPD), is a former Acting Principal of University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences (CASS), (2016-2017). He was the Dean of the Faculty of Law at The National University of Rwanda (UNR), (2007-2009).
He was a partner and Head of Business and Commercial Chamber and a practitioner at the Fountain Law Chambers, (2008-2013) before it was dissolved to form Fountain Advocates. He is one of the founding partners of Fountain Advocates and he is currently a partner and is still heading the Business and Commercial Law Department at Fountain Advocates. He holds;
- PhD from Utrecht University – The Netherlands, 2015. His PhD research was on “Corporate Governance and the liability of Corporate Directors: The case of Rwanda”;
- Master’s Degree (LL. M) – International Business Law from Utrecht University (2006);
- Bachelor’s Degree (LL. B/Hons) from the National University of Rwanda.
He is a renowned business legal analyst and negotiator. Prior to joining Fountain Law Chambers and later, at Fountain Advocates, he was and still is a Business Law, Company Law, Contracts Law, Securities Law, and ADR lecturer at the Faculty of Law of what was the National University of Rwanda, now School of Law of the University of Rwanda (UR) and he is a regular and certified trainer of Judges, attorneys and Prosecutors at the Institute of Law Practice and Development (ILPD).
He is a listed member of the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC) as an arbitrator, an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Commercial Arbitrators (CIArb) based in London, and he is also a CEDR accredited Commercial mediator.
Didas has served and is still serving on various boards of business companies, has served on professional institutional bodies in Rwanda like the high council of Judiciary (2007-2009) and the high council of the Prosecution (2007-2009), and on the National Steering Committee on Intellectual Property (2007-2009). He is also serving as a member of the Multi-institutional Committee, Business Law Sub-committee (composed of Judges, Prosecutors, Attorneys and Academics) on Law Reporting.
Didas specializes in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), commercial law, banking, corporate law, product liability, the law of securities and secured transactions, Labour Law and Land Law. He has a wide understanding of institutional operations in Rwanda and has extensively practiced, authored papers and lectured in the above disciplines.
At Fountain Advocates, he is largely involved in carrying out legal research, legal advisory, legal due diligences, business negotiations, and incorporation of companies, arbitrations and creation of securities for Banks but also pleading before courts on behalf of the Firm’s clients. He has negotiated a number of mergers and/or acquisitions of both local as well as international companies and has served as an arbitrator on various Labour, commercial and investment cases and has published as well on Arbitration. He has carried out or facilitated various consultancies having to do with legal drafting issues, governance (like the national Joint Governance Assessment) and others.
Didas is a member of the Rwandan Kigali Bar Association (KBA), the East African Law Society (EALS), and the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC) and is a native speaker of Kinyarwanda, has excellent command of English and a working knowledge of French and Swahili.
MTN Centre Nyarutarama 1st floor Kigali Rwanda
Ms JACKLEN MBABAZI
ASSOCIATE (Expertise: intellectual property & General commercial law) Trust Law Chambers (Rwanda)Practice Areas
Ms. MBABAZI Jacklen obtained her Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from the University of Rwanda in 2017 where she graduated among the top 10 students. She is currently pursuing a Diploma in Legal Practice at the Institute of Legal Practice and Development.
At the University of Rwanda, she represented the Country at the 2017 Nuremberg Moot Court competition held in Nuremburg, Germany.
Prior to joining Trust Law Chambers, she clerked for the Chief Justice of the Republic of Rwanda and also worked for Women’s Link Worldwide as a legal officer.
Jacklen is a native speaker of Kinyarwanda and has excellent command of English.
KG 569 Street, TLC House, Kigali Rwanda
MTN Centre Nyarutarama 1st floor Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
Anita is the one of the founding partners of MRB. She is a senior member of the Rwandan bar with a great training and experience in the civil law system. Anita possess an LLB degree from the, National University of Rwanda (NUR, 1996), LLM, FUSL- Universite Catholique de Louvain (2005).
Anita is a senior advocate who started her Legal practice as an advocate in 1998 working her way up as one of the most prolific commercial and litigation attorneys in Rwanda. She has worked on many commercial transaction advisory cases including dispute resolution, due diligences and insolvencies.
She has served as acting President of the Rwanda Bar Association (RBA), served as dean and council member of RBA, council member of the East African Law Society, a member of the RBA, the East African Law Society and the International Bar Association. She has a great grounding in Kinyarwanda and French. Anita brings to MRB more than a decade and a half of immense experience in legal practice and academia having taught law at the National University of Rwanda, the Independent University of Kigali (ULK) and at the Institute of Legal Practice & Development (ILPD).
KG 268 St. 1 Nyarutarama Kigali Rwanda
RICHARD MUGISHA
SENIOR PARTNER (Expertise: Energy, Infrastructure, PPPs & Projects) Trust Law Chambers (Rwanda)Practice Areas
Mr. Richard Mugisha holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA), a Bachelor of Laws degree(LLB) from the University of Lesotho in 1994 and Master of Laws (LLM) from New York University.
He is the Senior Partner of the firm that he founded in 2004. Formerly, he was the Manager, Procurement Policy and Legal affairs at the Rwanda National Tender Board for over five years. In the academic domain, he has taught and conducted tutorials at the University of Rwanda and Kigali Institute of Management, Science and Technology
He has led numerous assignments in Energy, Infrastructure & Mining as well as Banking and Finance and has been at the forefront of almost all the privatization deals in Rwanda.
He is cited by Chambers & Partners as a band 1 Attorney who is “go-to lawyer and a great negotiator” and “a leading Lawyer” by IFLR1000 legal directories.
He is the former President of the East African Law Society (EALS) and the former Chairman of the Business Law Reform Commission which reviewed all legislation affecting the commercial environment in Rwanda and serves on various National Committees, foundations and Company Boards in Rwanda.
He is a member of the Rwanda Bar Association and a fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He has also been appointed as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Rwanda with residence in Kigali.
He is a native speaker of Kinyarwanda, has excellent command of English and a working knowledge of French.
KG 569 Street, TLC House, Kigali Rwanda
Practice Areas
Remy Munyaneza holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Rwanda and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Institute of Legal Practice & Development (ILPD).
He is a member of the Rwanda Bar Association, the East African
Law Society and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London. Remy is a professional trained mediator and is a notary as well.
Remy has acquired great experience in litigation, arbitration, mediation and advisory work having handled for more than ten years numerous criminal, commercial, labor, civil and many other cases. He has got great experience in criminal investigation having participated in big investigations. He is a trainer for the Rwanda Bar Association and a
member of the Rwanda Bar Association legal commission. Remy is a native speaker of Kinyarwanda, fluent in French and English and has a good command of Swahili.
KG 268 St. 1 Nyarutarama Kigali Rwanda