Principal's Bio

After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Nairobi, Antoinette started her working career in litigation practice with the firm of Salim Dhanji & Company Advocates, where she honed her skills in the conduct of contentious and non-contentious legal work in civil and criminal litigation, conveyancing, criminal and commercial law.   In 2001, she entered the corporate world, taking up the role of Legal Counsel for Unilever Kenya Limited, providing legal services to its FMCG operations and the expansive tea plantations across East and Southern Africa, including in Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, for a period of 10 years.

This experience built her extensive experience in manufacturing and supply chain, marketing, commercial transactions, employee and labour relations, competition, multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance and compliance including management of publicly listed companies.  It was also during this time that her interest in the management of retirement benefits schemes developed and she built an in-depth understanding on the establishment and governance of retirement benefit trusts, management of investments and benefits.

Antoinette had the opportunity to expand her corporate experience at The Coca-Cola Company, one of the world’s most recognized brand, were she served the businesses across forty (40) countries in Central, East and West Africa, providing legal, governance and compliance support to the organization and its bottling partners.  It was while at The Coca-Cola Company that she developed expertise as a valued legal business partner –  ensuring operations were in line with applicable laws, assessing and managing legal risks in all areas of operation.  

It is this expertise that led to her recognition for three years running (2016, 2017 and 2018) as one of Africa’s Top 100 most influential lawyers in business by Legal 500, the world’s leading legal directory.

Antoinette is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a Commissioner for Oaths and Notary Public and a practicing Certified Secretary (CS).   She is also a Certified Governance Auditor by the Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya (ICS) and Certified as a Trustee by the Retirement Benefits Authority of Kenya (RBA).