The Advocates' Benevolent Association is the welfare arm of the Law Society of Kenya and exists to support and help members who are in need, in distress, or difficulties. The Association has a medical benefit available to members who are admitted to hospital and have challenges in settling their medical bills. Additionally, the Association pays a token of last expenses to families of deceased members and supports the education of their children up to tertiary level. The Board of Management of the Association is tasked with entering into strategic partnerships to sustain the wellbeing of Advocates.
Membership of the Association consists of every Advocate who is a paid-up member of the Society by S.22 (b) and 23(1) of the Advocates Act and of Advocates admitted to Membership by the Board under Rule 16 of the ABA rules.
It is now possible for Advocates who are categorized under S.10 of the Advocates Act and wish to become members of the Association to make direct payment of ABA subscriptions. Members wishing to do so will need to put in a written request to the Board.
The current composition of the ABA Board of Management includes:
Ex-Officio Members
The Board makes all policy decisions on behalf of the ABA.
The membership consists of every Advocate who is a member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) under Section 22 (b) and Section 23 of the Advocates' Act and any advocate admitted to membership by the Board under Rule 16 of the Advocates' Benevolent Association Rules.
Education support is given to children aged between 4years and 23 years at the time of application. Under this policy, the Association pays the children’s education from Nursery Level right through to Tertiary level subject to the approved limits by the Board. The current limits are as follows:
At the Y2019 AGM, members unanimously passed a motion to restructure the Association’s Tertiary benefits and to establish a Revolving Fund in conjunction with the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). The ABA Revolving Fund will ensure that the Association’s funds remain available to finance its continuing operations without any fiscal year limitation. The Fund was launched on 21st February, 2020 and is now operational.
The Board of Management expanded the scope of the existing ABA Revolving Fund Service Contract to include students currently benefiting from the Kenya School of Law scholarship.
The Advocates' Benevolent Association Board of Management is cognizant of the fact that Members are over time requiring medical assistance to help offset medical bills incurred due to various illnesses. The Board has, therefore, developed a policy that shall guide the disbursement of funds to Advocates in the event of sickness by Members.
This benefit, which is a one-off payment of KShs. 35,000/= is only applicable to a fully paid-up member of the Association and the appeal requested shall only be for inpatient cases. Payments are made directly to hospitals and a receipt is issued for the same.
The Last Expenses cheque is paid to the next of kin as indicated in the deceased Advocates application for practicing certificate. If a non-practicing Advocate, in their latest update at the ABA secretariat.
The Applicants must provide the Association with a
The Amount payable is capped at KShs. 50, 000.
Wakili Personal Retirement Benefits Scheme:
Wakili Personal Retirement Benefits Scheme is a formal retirement savings plan for members of the Association and their non-Advocate employees. It is a structured and professionally run scheme to enable the Advocates to save towards their retirement.
Members who are interested in joining the scheme can access the membership portal by visiting https://pensionscloud.azurewebsites.net/ or fill in the membership forms here and thereafter forward the filled-in form to aricha@kingslandcourt.co.ke, bdlife@icealion.com, or itslbd@icealion.com.
Establishment of partnerships with various recreational facilities all over the country for the benefit of members.
So far, the Board has negotiated partnerships with the following establishments:
Establishment of partnerships and linkages with Counselling Associations.
The Board of Management is cognizant of the fact that the legal profession is competitive and demanding; and that members are vulnerable to stress, anxiety, burnout, depression, divorce, substance abuse, and compulsive behaviors and their reluctance to seek help as they are fearful, in denial, afraid of being embarrassed. As such, the mental health of Advocates has become a very critical issue and the same has been further exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic.
The Board of Management is in the process of establishing a pool of counselors/psychologists who be available on call for Advocates to discuss any pressing issues at a subsidized rate.
The offices of the Board are based at the Law Society of Kenya Secretariat. The contact details are as below:
Email: aba@lsk.or.ke
Cell No: 0717-595-006
