Kenya’s legal profession has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with an increasing number of women joining the field. Women now outnumber men across the entire professional hierarchy, from entry-level roles to the C-suite.
Recent research and industry insights indicate that this marks a substantial shift in gender representation within a sector historically dominated by men. Unlike in finance and healthcare, women have maintained a strong presence in law, according to McKinsey, a global management consulting firm.
Women hold 59 out of every 100 entry-level roles in law. They go on to occupy between 48 and 65 out of every 100 roles at managerial to C-suite levels. The report shows that women in law hold more than 50 per cent of roles between entry and senior manager levels.
The legal profession in Kenya has long been perceived as male-dominated. Michael George Argwings-Kodhek emerged as a pioneer in the field, becoming the first Black Kenyan to practise law independently. His law firm was established during the Mau Mau uprising in 1952.
Despite Kodhek’s groundbreaking achievement, it would take more than two decades before female attorneys—such as Kalpana Rawal, who later served as Kenya’s Deputy Chief Justice—began setting up their own law firms. The perception of law as an exclusively male domain was further entrenched by the continued dominance of men in the profession during this transitional period.
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