Vol. 11 No.1:Some Thoughts on the Organization of Legal Practice in Ethiopia

Abstract

The art of arguing cases evolved in Ethiopia as elsewhere as a personal skill and to this day, legal service in Ethiopia is a sole practice that has not been able to organize itself into a law firm1. Lawyers have not been able to take advantage of partnership models under the Ethiopian Commercial Code of 1960 as in other countries, either because of concocted legal mysticism or because of the laxity of legal service in the country that did not call for robust or specialized and organized law firms. The history of law firms in other countries indicates that the evolution proceeded through the General Partnership to Limited Partnership (LP) and finally culminating on the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) which started in the USA and spread out to the rest of the world in the 1990s. It is now time to think in terms of organizing law firms in Ethiopia, and the Committee entrusted with a duty to revamp the Commercial Code of Ethiopia must see to it that the section on Business Organizations included the LLP to accommodate professional business associations including the legal practice.