Hon. Justice Wilson Kwesiga who in 2021 retired as the Head of the High Court Criminal Division and Hon. Justice David Kutosi Wangutusi who also retired in the same year, as the Head of the Commercial Division of the High Court of Uganda have both joined Greystone Advocates as consultants.
Retired Justice Kwesiga will head the firm’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), land, trusts, estates and family practice while Retired Justice Wangutusi will head the corporate and commercial arbitration practice.
Greystone Advocates is a full-service corporate law firm based in Kampala. While the firm provides a wide range of services, it specializes in corporate and commercial law. Other services the firm offers include civil, estates, trusts and family, labour and employment, criminal defence, and alternative dispute resolution amongst others.
Although fairly young, the Bukoto Street-based law firm boasts of a fine selection of lawyers and consultants who wield over 150 years of combined legal, judicial and practice experience.
Emmanuel Angwella, a corporate lawyer, heads the firm as Managing Partner. He as well as heads the Corporate and Commercial Division. Bill Mamawi (Head of Litigation) and Kenneth K. Tumusiime, (Head Business Development and IT, Joint Head Employment and Labour) double as Partners as well.
Who Are Hon. Justice David Kutosi Wangutusi and Hon. Justice Wilson Kwesiga?
Justice Wangutusi (Rtd) is a seasoned judicial officer with close to 40 years of judicial experience. The Makerere University and Law Development Centre trained lawyer rose from a Magistrate straight out of law school to head the Commercial Division of The High Court of Uganda from whence he retired in 2021.
In between, 38 years of distinguished service, he has served in key roles, including the deputy head of the Anti-Corruption Court, Executive Director of the Judicial Studies Institute, and member of the Judicial Law Reform Commission. He is a member of both the Uganda and East African Bar Associations among his diverse professional memberships.
Justice Kwesiga (Rtd) is as well, a seasoned and veteran legal practitioner both in private practice and as a distinguished member of the Bench. Having graduated from Makerere University and after passing his bar course at the Law Development Centre, he in 1983 became a state prosecutor until 1989, when he voluntarily joined private practice under Kwesiga & Company Advocates. In 2008, he was appointed judge. Amongst other roles, he headed the High Court circuits first in Arua, West Nile and then in Kabale from 2008 to 2013.
Letters to My Younger Self: What Uganda’s CEOs and Professionals Wish They Knew at the StartHe was then appointed to head the High Court Land Division from 2013 to 2017 and from where he was moved to head the High Court Criminal Division from 2017 to 2021 when he retired.
Justice Kwesiga is a holder of the Distinguished Service in the Administration of Justice Award and Best performing Justice of the High Court amongst other accolades. He has diverse legal interests and expertise including Mediation, Human Rights, Advocacy and regulatory compliance.
He is also a member of both the Ugandan and East African Bar Associations.
Explaining why the two seasoned judicial officials chose to join hands with Greystone Advocates, Retired Justice Kwesiga, said that the firm represented their ethos on reliability, flexibility and legal innovation especially when it comes to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
“Greystone Advocates’ purpose and mission, as well as methods of work, did match our own especially when it comes to innovative solutions to clients’ issues. I had seen their partners in my court and was impressed by their decency, presentation, and reliability. That is why I convinced Justice Wangutusi to join hands with Greystone,” he told this reporter in an interview.
“Partnerships are like courting in marriage- you must understudy each other’s mannerisms, ways of work and even vision and purpose,” he added.
Commenting about the development, Emmanuel Angwella, the Greystone Managing Partner said the two retired justices who between them hold nearly 80 years of private legal practice and judicial experience, would greatly reinforce Greystone’s value proposition to its clientele.
“As a mid-sized law firm, our competitive advantage has always been in our personal touch, innovation, meticulous attention to client’s needs, and creative networking. We aim to achieve this with our superior knowledge of the law and its dynamics, a material understanding of the issues that affect our clients, and a genuine enthusiasm for what we do. We aspire to perform like a trusted extension of our clients’ will and vision, producing results that directly and positively impact on our client’s business objectives. The addition of Retired Justices Kwesiga and Wangutusi to our team will further solidify, this value proposition,” he said.
