Kenyan lawyer and rights activist Judy Wanjeri Thongori is dead.
She died at an Indian hospital after a short illness, her family confirmed on Wednesday January 15 morning.
A message shared among lawyers said she was flown to India for an emergency treatment where she succumbed.
“Friends, it is with a heavy heart that I relay to all of us the sad news we have received of the passing on of our dear sister SC Judy Thongori.
Judy was taken ill quite recently, and was flown to India for emergency treatment. Sadly, due to complications, earlier this evening, she passed on,” the message read in part.
The Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo too broke the news of the death of Thongori.
“This morning, the legal fraternity mourns the loss of a distinguished member and beacon of excellence. Judy Thongori SC has been a monument of legal prowess and exemplified all the qualities of a professional North Star.”
“Her noteworthy contributions to family law and human rights are timeless and continue to propagate a learning curve for many in the profession. The legacy she leaves behind will remain an indelible mark of her impact that lives on among us,” said Odhiambo.
Thongori once sued the government over its failure to achieve 30 percent women representation.
Thongori had 35 years of practice as an advocate, with 10 years in active Commercial practice and 25 years in Family Law practice.
She specialized in mediation, succession, estate planning, divorce and separation, child custody matters, litigation and arbitration, parental responsibility agreements, prenuptial agreements and the division of matrimonial property.
She was the first woman in Kenya to be inducted into the prestigious “Roll of Honour” by the Law Society of Kenya in recognition of her contribution to the legal profession and Family Law practice in Kenya.
She was the founder and proprietor of Judy Thongori & Company Advocates, with a strong focus on Family Law, and a trained family mediator accredited to the Mediation Accreditation Committee of the Judiciary.
She was a women’s rights activist and she successfully sued the Kenyan government for not delivering 30 percent representation for women.
The firm has represented several families in the Courts, whose decisions have been rendered as landmark cases and, in the process, received international recognition, thus leading the firm to have been invited to assist in drafting opinions for various jurisdictions.
Through the years, the firm has provided an opportunity for many young lawyers to undertake pupillage since 2003 and inculcated in them a passion for family law to the extent that a number of them are running Law Practices that major in family law.
The firm has embraced mediation as a tool for dispute resolution and is accredited by the Judiciary for Court Annexed Mediation.
Many colleagues in the profession mourned her as a hardworking lawyer.
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