Overview

Signum Advocates offers an innovative approach to providing legal advice and the structuring of its fee arrangements within the confines of the law. We are known for our skilful work in highly complex and emerging areas, offering breadth and excellence that is unrivalled across most practice areas.

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Practices

Signum is a law firm that strives to add value to its clients' transactions and briefs by offering more than just legal advice. The firm has a team of experienced lawyers who specialize in various practice areas. Here are some of the practice areas that the Signum team is experienced in

Our Team

Our multi-disciplinary team of lawyers has skillset and experience in areas of Employment and Employee Benefits, Corporate, Banking and Finance and other practices. The team has developed expertise that enables us to deliver high quality work in a timely manner with high level of professionalism

Ian Mutibwa

Managing Partner

Ian is the Managing Partner of the firm and heads the Tax, Banking and Finance Teams. He is both Ugandan and UK trained and has over ten (10) years practice and experience. Prior to joining the Firm, he gained extensive experience with KPMG East Africa and Shonubi Musoke & Co. Advocates.

In 2016, Ian was seconded to the global law firm of Latham and Watkins LLP in the UK in the international Tax and Project Finance Departments as part of the prestigious International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) Programme with a special emphasis to the African Market.

He was part of the inaugural online trial advocacy training by Justice Advocacy Africa, 2020. He serves on both the Professional Development Committee and the Strategic Mobilisation Committees of the Uganda Law Society.

Patson W. Arinaitwe

Partner

Patson is a Senior Partner at Signum Advocates. He is UK and Ugandan trained lawyer with expertise and experience in Projects & Infrastructure, Dispute Resolution and Employment and Pensions practices. Prior to joining Signum as a partner, he was a Principal Associate at S&L Advocates (DLA Piper Africa). Patson has advised several national and international clients on matters related to Projects and Infrastructure, Energy, banking and finance, employment and pensions, commercial disputes among others. He has advised on several projects including advising on design, financing, and construction of the USD 400million specialized hospital in Uganda, acted for a regional energy company in structuring the financing, construction, and establishment of USD $ 5million aviation fuels plant in Northern Uganda. He was also the lead legal Consultant in association with Castalia Advisory Group in providing consultancy services to the Government of Uganda represented by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to develop a framework for Private Sector Participation (PSP) in Uganda’s Electricity Transmission segment. He has also advised several project companies and sponsors on structuring, financing, and licensing of several renewable energy projects in Uganda.

In employment space, Patson has been at the forefront of guiding the firm's corporate clients on their obligations under the Ugandan Labour laws. He frequently works with boards, general and in-house counsel, Human Resource departments and directly with the operation in handling issues related to employment relations, legal and regulatory compliance, structuring of pensions and retirement benefits schemes as well as review and formulation of human resource manuals and policies.

Patson also runs a wide-ranging arbitration practice. He has been involved in several domestic and international arbitrations under the LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL and CADER arbitration frameworks both as counsel and as an arbitrator. He has presented on several occasions in national and regional international conferences as a Keynote speaker on topical issues on arbitration and dispute resolution. In 2022, Patson was recognized among the top 30 rising Arbitration Practitioners in Africa by the Africa Arbitration Academy and the Association of young Arbitrators Africa. He was also part of the 2022, Africa Arbitration Academy Flagship training program hosted by leading international arbitration law firms and arbitral institutions in London, UK. In 2015, Patson was seconded to the global law firm of Mayer Brown International LLP in its London office and Blackstone Chambers in London as part of the prestigious International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) Program with a special emphasis to the African Market.

Gerald Batanda

Partner

Batanda is a Partner and head of the Litigation and Dispute resolution teams at the Firm.

He has appeared numerous times in the East African Court of Justice, Common Market for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COMESA) Court, the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Constitutional Court,High Court and various Tribunals and Commissions. He has also been involved in several domestic and international arbitrations under the LCIA and UNCITRAL arbitration frameworks.

During his tenure at Attorney General’s Chambers, Batanda advised government on key matters in the oil and gas industry, arbitration briefs and other high-level disputes involving Government and bilateral arrangements.Batanda is a lecturer at the Institute of Petroleum Studies, Kampala.

Alex Matovu

Partner

Alex is a Co-Founding Partner at the firm. He is a Ugandan and UK trained corporate and commercial lawyer with over 10 (ten) years of practical experience. Alex’s advisory experience entails commercial and financing deals related to private equity, corporate finance, project finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate rescue, and restructuring. He has advised local and multinational corporations across banking, telecom, technology , real estate, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, and agri-business sectors.

Alex is a recipient of the prestigious UK Chevening Scholarship and is completing his master’s degree in Banking & Finance Law at Queen Mary University of London. He has also been seconded to the global law firm of Freshfields Bruckhause Deringer LLP in the UK as part of the prestigious International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) Programme.

As Chairperson of the Professional Development Committee of the Uganda Law Society, Alex spearheaded the establishment of the Law Firm Management Program and the Young Lawyers Mentorship Series, both of which have helped to equip lawyers in Uganda with critical business and career development skills.

Rachael K. Kembabazi

Senior Associate

Racheal is a Senior Associate with the Firm. She majorly works with the Corporate, Tax, Banking and Finance departments of the firm. However, she supports the employment and dispute resolution practices from time to time.

Racheal beams with a passion for legal practice and is an ambitious lawyer who possesses a vast wealth of knowledge that is evident in the solutions she provides to clients. Racheal provides day to day advisory to clients both national, regional and international clients. She stands out of the pack and this has been demonstrated by her result-oriented drive. Racheal has advised on one of Uganda’s M&A transactions where Prudential Assurance Uganda Limited was acquiring the insurance business for International Air Ambulance (IAA).

Racheal has a proven track record of providing indispensable advice and solutions to clients. She is a quick learner who can quickly absorb new situations and can communicate clearly and effectively with both legal professionals and members of the public. With this, Racheal has been seconded to some of the clients’ businesses to cater for the client’s legal needs and manage any legal crisis faced by the clients.

Racheal is a core team member in the Corporate Governance Department of the Firm where she renders legal advisory to some of the boards of the clientele and manages board affairs.

Racheal has a passion for International Criminal Law with a specific niche for financial and economic crime and with this, she is one of the few Ugandan young professionals that have had the privilege to pursue an internship with the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 2022.

With her multifaceted skills and talents coined with her leadership skills, Racheal is an advocate for this generation. This has been recognized and endorsed by the legal fraternity in Uganda and Africa at large which have nominated her for the "Rising Star" and "Newcomers " Award by the Africa Legal Awards in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively. Racheal was also nominated by the Uganda Law Society as a "Rising Star" in August 2021.

Kansiime M. Taremwa

Associate

Taremwa is an Associate at the Firm and has been with us since July 2020. His practice focuses on Employment & Compensation Structuring Advisory and Litigation & Alternative Dispute Resolution.

He joined the Firm as a Trainee as part of the fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Center and has since been retained as an advisory lawyer in the Employment and Employee Benefits Practice, Corporate and Commercial Practice, and Litigation and Dispute Resolution.

Joel R. Mucunguzi

Associate

Joel is an Associate at Signum Advocates.

Joel also holds a Certificate in Introduction to Corporate Finance and a Certificate in Fundamentals of Credit from the Corporate Finance Institute. At the firm, Joel supports in a number of practice areas such as Corporate Finance, Data Protection and Privacy, Capital Markets and Securities and Technology,

Rehemah Twine

Associate

Rehemah is an associate at Signum Advocates. She works with the Dispute Resolution Department Arbitration, Human Rights, Islamic financing, Employment law, Tax and Corporate advisory.

Belinda Patience Cheptoek

Associate

Belinda is an associate at Signum Advocates.

Morris B. Atugonza

Associate

Morris is a young ambitious and hardworking lawyer working under Corporate and Commercial, Energy and Projects, Employment, Banking & Finance departments.

His core practice areas are corporate commercial, Energy, projects and infrastructure, banking and finance law, legal and regulatory advice, commercial litigation, insolvency, restructuring and intellectual property law.

Morris has a special like for emerging and disruptive technology having qualified as part of the inaugural research cohort of the Center for Law and Emerging Technologies (CLET), Makerere University Law School.

Morris Borris joined the firm as a legal intern and has risen through the ranks to his current position. Morris has proven to be an agile “fixer” for the firm with out of the box solutions for complex and quagmire situations.