Charles is an accomplished legal practitioner with more than 21 years of experience advising on high-value transactions, complex commercial structures, insolvency, and regulatory strategy. He began his career in litigation, where he developed strong analytical and advocacy foundations, before transitioning into corporate and transactional practice. Since 2013, he has served as the Managing Partner of Wamae & Allen LLP, providing strategic leadership and overseeing the delivery of sophisticated legal solutions for both local and international clients.
Charles has acted on numerous mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring mandates across diverse industries, guiding clients through due diligence, negotiation, regulatory compliance, and post-transaction implementation. He has significant experience in multi-jurisdictional joint venture arrangements, where he advises on structuring, governance frameworks, contractual architecture, and cross-border regulatory implications.
His practice further extends to the conceptualization and execution of end-to-end project development mandates, including financing structures, regulatory navigation, asset acquisition, and the establishment of special purpose vehicles. He regularly delivers integrated solutions that support commercially aligned and operationally efficient project outcomes.
Charles also advises on complex restructuring and insolvency matters, including employment-law exposures, creditor and lender negotiations, and statutory compliance, often restoring distressed entities to going-concern viability. His cross-border regulatory experience includes acting as lead legal adviser in humanitarian-sector relocations. Notably, he oversaw the relocation of a U.S.–based NGO operating in Sudan during active conflict, directing immigration regularisation in Kenya for multinational staff, supervising the transfer of business operations, restructuring the organisation’s corporate framework to align with their headquarters in the US, and advising on office establishment, staff mobility, and multi-jurisdictional tax implications.
Renowned for his commercially attuned, pragmatic approach, Charles provides actionable guidance that enables clients to navigate complexity, unlock value, and mitigate legal and regulatory risk. His work is anchored in integrity, precision, and a client-first philosophy.
Areas of Expertise
- Commercial and Corporate Law
- Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Restructuring
- Administration, Insolvency and Business Recovery
- Intellectual Property Strategy and Protection
- Data Protection and Technology Law
- Real Estate and Property Transactions
- Banking and Finance
- Immigration and Mobility Law
- Cross-Border and Multi-Jurisdictional Transactions
Key Achievements
- Led and supervised high-stakes negotiations across complex commercial transactions for more than twenty years, consistently advancing and protecting clients’ strategic and contractual interests.
- Structured and executed legally robust debt-settlement and workout frameworks in multiple insolvency engagements, ensuring statutory compliance while balancing diverse stakeholder rights and commercial objectives.
- Oversaw asset realization exercises and lease management for entities under Administration, applying insolvency legislation and regulatory protocols to maximize recoveries for creditors and administrators.
- Managed comprehensive property conveyancing and transactional portfolios, delivering seamless sales, transfers, and tax-aligned structuring in compliance with regulatory and statutory requirements.
- Advised major financial institutions on significant regulatory transitions, including reforms in land law and digital platform governance, ensuring compliance, risk mitigation, and operational continuity.
- Provided strategic counsel across a wide range of mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring mandates, leading due diligence, negotiations, and regulatory engagement to secure legally sound and commercially aligned outcomes.
- Acted as lead legal adviser on complex cross-border joint venture transactions, guiding clients through structural design, governance frameworks, contractual architecture, and multi-jurisdictional regulatory analysis.
- Delivered end-to-end legal advisory on project development mandates, including conceptualization, capital structuring, regulatory navigation, asset acquisition, and the establishment of special purpose vehicles to support effective project execution.
- Led restructuring mandates for distressed entities, resolving employment-law exposures, negotiating creditor and lender positions, and securing compliance with insolvency legislation to restore going-concern viability.
- Acted as principal legal adviser on the relocation of a U.S.–based NGO from conflict-affected Sudan, directing immigration regularisation for multinational staff in Kenya, overseeing the transition of operational functions, restructuring the corporate framework to align with their headquarters in the US, and advising on office establishment and multi-jurisdictional tax implications for internationally deployed personnel.
Leadership and Innovation
Charles is a strong advocate for the modernisation and professionalism of Kenya’s legal ecosystem. His leadership at Wamae & Allen LLP reflects a commitment to operational excellence, ethical practice, and the integration of technology to enhance legal service delivery. He actively contributes to sector-wide conversations on legal reform and the future of the professional practice.
Client Commitment
With a deep appreciation for the commercial realities driving client decisions, Charles adopts a strategic, solutions-driven approach across all mandates. He is known for navigating complexity with clarity and precision, providing actionable advice that mitigates risk, preserves value, and supports sustained business success.
