Legal Officer at M-Gas

About the Job

• Working as a key member of the legal team tasked with managing all phases of litigation from the investigation, pleadings, and discovery through the pre-trial, trial, settlement, and appeal processes. The role will be responsible for drafting pleadings, conducting legal research, drafting legal opinions, and attending court for mentions and hearings.  

Duties & Responsibilities

• Handle all demands, threatened litigation and claims, and ensure reduction of legal exposure through adverse judgements. 
• Undertake negotiation to settle potentially litigious matters to ensure that the Company’s risks and costs are minimized. 
• Receive legal documents, summons to enter appearance and plaint for claims lodged against the Company and determining whether liability attaches on the part of the Company and ensure court documents are filed on time. 
• Attend court, tribunals, police stations, county offices, government, and regulatory authorities as and when required both on behalf of the Company where it is sued or otherwise and to represent employees who have been charged for traffic offenses.  
• Develop legal strategies for litigation matters and collaborate with external advocates and other departments where required to ensure seamless case management.  
• Provide legal advice, opinion and assistance on all legal claims matters to the management. 
• Follow-up on registration or filing of all, legal forms, documents & pleadings at any government registry or online portal. 
• Conduct legal research on various issues, case law, statutes, regulations, and other relevant materials to support legal arguments, advice.  
• Engage in pre-trial briefings and prepare witnesses for court attendance. 
• Draft and review pleadings, court documents and correspondence. 
• Review judgments and recommending settlement or appeals.  
• Periodically review legal files to ensure the files are up to date; maintain Litigation tracker and present to legal team and/or management on regular basis. 
• Hande the Company’s recoveries from third parties by instituting suits or out of Court negotiations and follow up through to closure of the matter.  
• Ensure payments are raised, authorized, and paid by the Finance Department in good time. Follow up on judgment payments to avoid executions. 
• Review the external advocate’s fees to ensure that the fee notes are raised as per remuneration order. 
• Monitor ongoing litigation cases and share insights and lessons learned from them with the legal team and other departments. 
• Any other roles that maybe assigned from time to time
• Strong litigation background. 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and to manage multiple files without missing any key deadlines. 
• Dynamic, motivated and a self-starter, with enthusiasm to continually learn and improve skills and a can-do attitude towards managing a diverse range of legal matters. 
• Ability to work independently or with a team if needed. 
• Good team player with a flexible approach to work. 
• Keen eye for detail. 
• Confidence to explain legal issues in a simple and clear manner to operations team members. 
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills – in person, in writing and on the phone. 
• Able to use Microsoft products to a high level. 
• Fluent in English and Kiswahili. 

Personal Attributes

• At least 2 years post-qualification experience of active litigation.  
• Working at a legal department of a busy organization, financial institution, or law firm. 
• Flexibility to work beyond standard work hours as necessary to support operations teams.  

Academic Qualifications
Qualification Name    Level

• Bachelor’s degree in law from a recognized university in Kenya.    Degree
• Post graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law with a current practicing certificate.    

Skill Qualifications

• Skill    Level
• Attachments
• Document Name    Is Mandatory?
• Resume    Yes